A Stylistic Examination of Lao Zi

The paper argues that Lao Zi is formed on the basis of a professional cultural background instead of an idiosyncratically original text.Structurally,Lao Zi falls into four types,which ideally fits into the framework oforiginal textand its explication and extension.Theoriginal textcomprises of an editorial collection culled from previous archives known asyu(语).Archives like the Zhou Zhu(周祝) of the Warring States period were supposedly exerting a stylistic and structural impact on Lao Zi.Culling exhortative admonishments while providing due explication and extension were the job of Da Zhu(大祝),which means that Zhou Zhu was a professional compilation.Similar evidences exist to prove that Lao Zi was not an authentic explication of certain texts,but an inheritance or parody of this tradition.Besides employing the yu discourse in Lao Zi which lends it an authoritative style,the author Lao Zi also identifies with the exhortative tradition ofyuand therefore chooses that specific style to express himself.