New translation. Laozi is an honorific title meaning "old master." He is believed to have lived in the 6th century BC and to have authored the present Tao Te Ching. We do not know who he truly was. The work is now part of the canon of Taoism. Tao means, among other things, way, principle, meaning (as translated by the well-known sinologist Richard Wilhelm); Te stands for power, life, virtue; Ching (pronounced: Jing) refers to a classical collection of texts or a guide. In fact, the work contains thoughts on personal lifestyle as well as on the governance of a state, while also outlining an original cosmology. A fundamental principle is non-action (wu wei). In the original, the text is predominantly rhymed and was likely originally written in seal script. In 1973, two versions from the 2nd century BC were discovered in a tomb in Mawangdui (in the Chinese province of Hunan).