There is no single definition of Taoism in the Tao de Ching. The reader realizes that she will not find one in the text after seeing the first sentence. By saying that whatever can be described of the Tao is not the true Tao, its author, Lao-tzu, establishes his first premise: the Tao is a force beyond human explanation. However this assumption does not mean that he can't attempt to describe it. Using the literary tools of contradiction, parallel structure, and metaphor, Lao-tzu discusses the Tao in language regular people can understand.
Contradiction
In the beginning the Tao gave…
