In this paper, I demonstrate how the analysis of metaphorical expressions in the Laozi 老子 can facilitate our understanding of this enigmatic text. First, I introduce the notion of metaphor and why their study is nowadays considered a suitable tool to elucidate the meaning of an ancient text—the product of a temporally distant intellectual discourse which relies on fundamentally different cultural assumptions. Following that, I discuss the state of the field, introducing the most notable academic works on figurative speech in theLaozi. Subsequently, I introduce my own classification of the main metaphors of the text and investigate them in the context of its central philosophical notions (which are, themselves, metaphors). Here, I also attempt to show how metaphors were instrumental for the formulation of the Laozi’s distinct worldview and its characteristic paradoxes.