Note 334 — Chapter XV · TAOISM, LOCAL DEITIES, TREE-WORSHIP

Prof. H. A. Giles holds that the Tao Tê Ching is a compilation and was not written by Lao Tzŭ himself though it probably enshrines some of his sayings. He gives strong reasons for believing that it must have been compiled after the appearance of the works of Chuang Tzŭ (fourth century B.C.), Han Fei Tzŭ (third century B.C.) and Huai Nan Tzŭ (second century B.C.). As for Lao Tzŭ himself, Dr. Giles rejects the slender evidence that makes him a contemporary of Confucius, and assigns him to "some unknown period in remote antiquity." (China and the Chinese, pp. 145, 148 seq.)