Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

In this work the theories of Marx and Laozi are dialectically combined. The resulting synthesis is a positive materialist negation of Hegel’s idealist dialectics. Syntheses are presented for Marx and Laozi in ontology, metaphysics, epistemology, scientific method, ethics and politics: the full spectrum of their foundational principles. The book is an attempt to reconstruct a materialist interpretation of Laozi, which can be put to work for Marxist theory.