Thanks for that, but my understanding of the passage you refer to is that it is discussing T'ao Yuan-ming's poem "Peach Blossom Spring", not the Tao Te Ching.

Thanks for that, but my understanding of the passage you refer to is that it is discussing T'ao Yuan-ming's poem "Peach Blossom Spring", not the Tao Te Ching. I've recently been reading Ellen Chen's new translation and commentaries [http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-Translation-Commentary/dp/1557782385/ http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-Translation-Commentary/dp...]. It includes an interesting discussion of academic attitudes to the history and origins of the Tao Te Ching, and as I recall the notion of it being satire is not mentioned.