Mǎwángduī Hànmù Bóshū Lǎozǐ Yǐběn 馬王堆漢墓帛書老子乙本
Mawangdui Han Tomb Silk Manuscript Laozi, Text B
About the work
The silk-manuscript version of the Lǎozǐ 老子 designated Text B (乙本, Yǐběn), one of two copies recovered from Mǎwángduī 馬王堆 Han Tomb No. 3 (Chángshā, Húnán), excavated December 1973. Text B is written in a more mature clerical script (隸書 lìshū) than Text A (KR5c0387) and can be dated by the pattern of taboo-character avoidance to between 194 and 180 BCE — after the death of Emperor Gāozǔ 高祖 (d. 195 BCE) and before that of Emperor Huì 惠帝 (d. 188 BCE). Text B is thus slightly later than Text A. Like Text A, it preserves the Dé-jīng-first ordering and lacks chapter divisions; its wordcount colophon at the end of the Dào-section (《道》二千四百廿六) records 2,426 characters for that section. Text B is written on the same silk cloth as the four Huáng-Lǎo texts now in KR5c0389, which precede it on the scroll.
Prefaces
No prefaces survive. The Lǎozǐ Text B follows directly after the four Huángdì sìjīng texts (KR5c0389) on the same silk cloth without a separate introduction.
Abstract
Physical context. Text B occupies the later portion of the silk cloth that opens with the Huángdì sìjīng (KR5c0389). This physical arrangement — four Yellow Emperor political texts followed by the Lǎozǐ — reflects the Huáng-Lǎo intellectual synthesis characteristic of the early Hàn court. Text B is written in a more developed clerical hand than Text A and appears to have been produced by a different scribe; some scholars have suggested it may be a more “official” or presentation copy.
Structure. Like Text A, Text B opens with the Dé-jīng (received chs. 38–81) and concludes with the Dào-jīng (received chs. 1–37), the reverse of the Wáng Bì received ordering. No chapter divisions appear in the original manuscript. The colophon at the end reads 《道》二千四百廿六, recording the character count (2,426 characters) for the Dào-section; similar wordcount notations appear in early Hàn manuscripts as a scribal quality-control practice.
Textual relationship to Text A. Manuscripts A and B share the same basic textual tradition — they are likely derived from a common parent — but differ in numerous individual readings. Text B’s script is closer to standard Hàn clerical writing, which may have introduced additional normalising variants. Comparison of the two Mǎwángduī texts against each other and against the received Wáng Bì edition has been a central method in modern Lǎozǐ textual criticism. About 300 lexical variants distinguish the Mǎwángduī readings collectively from the received text.
Dating. The copying date of Text B (194–180 BCE) is established by the pattern of taboo avoidance: the text avoids the personal names of Gāozǔ (邦 → 國 or other substitutes) and Huì Dì (盈 → 滿), but does not yet avoid characters associated with Empress Lǚ’s regency (180–187 BCE), setting the upper terminus. The underlying composition is the same as for Text A; see KR5c0387 for the full dating discussion.
Current location. Both Mǎwángduī Lǎozǐ silk manuscripts are held at the Húnán Provincial Museum 湖南省博物館.
Translations and research
- Henricks, Robert G. 1989. Lao-Tzu: Te-Tao Ching — A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts. Ballantine Books. (Includes full translation of both Text A and Text B with apparatus.)
- Lau, D. C. 1989. Tao Te Ching. 2nd ed. Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. (Appendices provide Mǎwángduī readings throughout.)
- Yīn Zhènhuán 尹振环. 2007. Bóshū Lǎozǐ zài shūyì 帛書老子再疏義. Shāngwù. (Uses Text A as base, with full collation of Text B.)
- Boltz, William. 2005. “The Composite Nature of Early Chinese Texts.” In Text and Ritual in Early China, ed. Martin Kern. University of Washington Press, 50–78.