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Secondary sourceBook1912

The Inner Life and the Tao-Teh-King

C. H. A. Bjerregaard · 1912

A 1912 mystical study of the Tao Te Ching by librarian C. H. A. Bjerregaard, including a chapter on Laozi himself.

A later scholarly study devoting a chapter to Laozi, showing how his teachings were interpreted mystically in the West.

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The Inner Life and the Tao-Teh-KingPDF · 252 pages
C. H. A. Bjerregaard, The Inner Life and the Tao-Teh-King, 1912. Scanned copy, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a book written by C. H. A. Bjerregaard, a librarian at the New York Public Library, published in 1912 by the Theosophical Publishing Company. It is a scanned copy available through the Internet Archive, 225 pages long, examining the Tao Te Ching through a mystical lens, with a specific chapter devoted to Laozi.

Why it matters

This book shows how, centuries after Laozi's time, Western readers were interpreting Taoist ideas through their own mystical and philosophical frameworks. It reflects the growing interest in Eastern philosophy in the early 20th century and shows how figures like Laozi were studied and reimagined by later scholars.

Look closer

  • Why might a Western librarian in 1912 be interested in an ancient Chinese text?
  • How might a mystical interpretation differ from a historical one?
  • What does the table of contents suggest about the author's main interests?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Laozi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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