EDITOR’S ABSTRACT This paper argues that we cannot determine with certainty the sequence of the two parts of the Laozi text: “Way” (Dao) and “Virtue” (De). These two parts (pian) were originally written independently by Lao Zi and in an uncertain chronological order. They originally circulated separately, and were later combined differently by various editors. Thus emerged the two Laozi versions: The one with “Way” preceding “Virtue” has dominated the transmission; the alternative order can be retrieved from recently discovered sources such as the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts and Han Bamboo Slips.

中文翻译：

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《老子》中各部分顺序的新解释

编辑的摘要本文认为，我们无法确定老子文本的两个部分的顺序：“道”（道）和“美德”（德）。这两个部分（片）最初是由老子独立撰写的，并且按照不确定的时间顺序排列。它们最初是分开发行的，后来被各种编辑以不同的方式组合在一起。因此出现了两个老子版本：一个在“美德”之前带有“ Way”的方式主导了传输；可以从最近发现的来源中检索替代顺序，例如《马王堆丝绸手稿》和《汉竹简》。