Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics) Paperback – September 5, 2006
by Lao Tzu (Author), Stephen Mitchell (Translator)
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The bestselling, widely acclaimed translation from Stephen Mitchell
In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.
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144 pages
Language
English
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Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Publication date
September 5, 2006
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5.31 x 0.32 x 8 inches
ISBN-10
9780061142666
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“I have read many translations of this ancient text but Mitchell’s is by far the best.” -- James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces
From the Back Cover
In eighty-one brief chapters, Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, provides advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit, and teaches us how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao—the basic principle of the universe.
Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.
About the Author
Stephen Mitchell's many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, and The Second Book of the Tao, as well as The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, and Meetings with the Archangel.
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Product details
ASIN : 0061142662
Publisher : Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (September 5, 2006)
Language : English
Paperback : 144 pages
ISBN-10 : 9780061142666
ISBN-13 : 978-0061142666
Item Weight : 4 ounces
Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.32 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #10,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#5 in Taoism (Books)
#6 in Taoist Philosophy
#8 in Tao Te Ching (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,436 ratings
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tao te ching stephen mitchell lao tzu highly recommend thought provoking many times life changing easy to understand eckhart tolle classical chinese simple yet read many ever written years ago new age every morning bhagavad gita every time read this book cheap paper
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justaguy
1.0 out of 5 stars "A New English Version" -- "Version" is the key term here
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2018
Verified Purchase
I first read the Tao Te Ching in college. Somewhere along the line I lost that copy so I decided to pick up this one (especially since it had such high reviews). This copy seemed much different than the one I read years back. And I am not just talking about the author's choice to use female pronouns as well as male pronouns in his version (incidentally - how close can one get to awareness of Tao if one allows oneself to get hung up on seeing "He" rather than "She" in the teachings?).
In one portion of this "tao de ching: A New English Version" ("Version" is the key word) the author chooses to translate "When the Tao is absent in a country,/ war horses are bred on the borders" to "When a country goes counter to the Tao, Warheads are stockpiled outside the cities". This author has written his "modernized" version of the Tao Te Ching and he claims to have been open in this fact, supposedly by him using the terms "A New English Version". When one reads further one in the notes you see the author admitting he does not even know Chinese (so his interpretation of the Tao is from other translations - and how he thinks the lines should read for poetics sake, or P.C. sake, etc).
At first I thought I would not write a review on this book. But when seeing the author admit to what I had suspected it made me feel like I really got ripped off. If you are looking for a translation of the Tao Te Ching do not get this author's book. The author respects the Tao but this is not the real deal. I will be purposefully losing this book and looking for a better translation.
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Jared
5.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly profound and enjoyable read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018
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I had no idea what to expect of this book when It arrived. I turned it over in my hands and it was clearly very short in length, so I decided to just read a few pages while I finished my morning coffee.
One and a half hours later I had finished the book entirely, along with my coffee, and I immediately knew upon completion that I would read this book many, many more times in my life.
It was a highly profound, dare I say life changing read that dramatically impacted my perspective towards my own happiness and how I interact with others. Written as a collection of very short, almost poem-like chapters, often each occupying less than a single page, this book is a masterfully crafted guide to find real happiness and fulfillment in your life. It is a tome that empowers you, humbles you, and leads you around the pitfalls that so many humans fall into throughout their lives.
It is not a modern self help book with life-hacks, habit forming tips, or other such articulations, but rather a fundamental, deep, and moving look at what makes up a fulfilling life.
If you are someone who has discovered mindfulness, explores meditation, or ponders philosophy, then this book is, without question, a must-read.
And if you are more of a go-getter. A driven entrepreneurial type who is looking more or straightforward advice on building your business, achieving goals and finding ‘success’, then I encourage you more-so than anyone else to pick this book up.
It has helped me make difficult business decisions, cut through the unimportant details and roadblocks, optimize my time, and improve my relations with my clients and really everyone else in my life for that matter. It is a book for the true winners, who understand that karma is practical, and that compassion is the path to real success.
It is a book that I will cherish for the rest of my life, and I feel indebted to the author and translator for bringing its wisdom into the world.
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Abraham Kim
1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy - this version lacks the nuance of the original text
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2018
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If you're looking for a good, hardcore, truly Taoist translation of the great Ching, don't buy it.
The author, as others have mentioned, has admitted to going to great liberties to make the translated text sound more "poetic" to the modern reader, along with adding his little spice of he and she references just to balance out the gender appeal (the original text doesn't even mention gender). The truth is, if you read other versions of the Ching (even online), it's easy to see that the doing so distracts from the true message of the text, and that the best versions don't even need to use specific pronouns to get the message across.
While reading this I literally almost puked at how many contractions there were, and how desperate the author at trying to make this already profound text sound "hip." I almost felt like I was reading a self-help book or something. So I went online and looked up some other versions, and lone behold, there are versions that had none of that crap in it.
I just don't get why authors do this...like do they think we are dumb? Do they have ANY understanding for the profoundness of the texts they altering to make them more "palatable" to a modern audience? I saw "Perennial Classics" edition so I thought I'd buy it because I trust them, but not so much anymore, especially when it comes to books like this.
DO NOT BUY. If you want a good version, search up "Tao Ti Ching on wussu.com." That version is much better and better captures the philosophical nuance of the text without putting in all this modern mainstream he/she/contraction BS.
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Hursarevunow
1.0 out of 5 stars Not really a translation; misleadingly marketed as one
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020
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This text describes itself as a translation of the Tao Te Ching, but a little investigation reveals that Mitchell has freely inserted his own ideas and idiosyncrasies. He adds to the text in some places, and creates new verses out of whole cloth in others.
You aren't reading the Tao Te Ching- you're reading Mitchell's opinion on what the Tao Te Ching ought to have said. Mitchell himself has no particular qualifications to translate an ancient literary Chinese text and some of his "updates" (like inserting references to trucks and warheads) do nothing to improve on this text.
I would never have bought this 'version' in favor of a translation by an actual expert on the original Chinese text, but the way this book is packaged and marketed makes it look like a translation, rather than an interpretation.
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customer trillion
5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the best books I have ever engaged with
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 18, 2018
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This is one of the best books I have ever engaged with. I cannot recommend it more highly. A beautiful gift for anyone with any spiritual / philosophical curiosity and passion. I read this book over and over and over again. It is more than a book it is a tool, a window, a companion.The version of the Tao Te Ching here is poetic and profound. The introduction alone is worth buying the book for.
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MR S J GRAINGER
5.0 out of 5 stars best. book. ever. :D
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2018
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It doesn't get much better than this in the modern world.. perennial wisdom from the east in a no nonsense translation, presented in a wee volume you can keep with you everywhere. Don't bother with other translations.. Mitchell gets it - and gives it!
3 people found this helpful
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Maelen Moonsinger
1.0 out of 5 stars A ghastly and flippant travesty
Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2022
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I have read the Daodejing in the original classical Chinese and in a number of translations into English and Modern Chinese. This "translation" is a worthless disgrace that will only be valuable to someone who is studying the thought of Stephen Mitchell. It wanders away from the clear meaning of the original in many places, and suppresses or rewrites anything that the translator finds distasteful or hard to understand. For instance, Verse 80, a key passage that makes it clear that even in historical Chinese terms the author of the Daodejing was a totalitarian, is completely reworded into a fluffy ode to the simple, natural life. The "translator" doesn't even bother to add a note on the extent of his changes, other than giving the final part of the passage, which calls for the common people to be reduced to mindless lumps that would never visit neighboring villages in their entire lives, the genuinely stupid comment "Not that they are lacking in appropriate curiosity. But they have their priorities straight." (p. 113). Whoever approved the publication of this dreck certainly didn't have their priorities straight -- unless those priorities are limited to flogging shoddy New Age fluff to the credulous.
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Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2014
Verified Purchase
If you like Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching, this is an excellent buy. I find Mitchell's translation to be simple and yet very eloquent. It does not feel like a 'westernized' translation, nor does it feel incomprehensible.
This book is really beautiful. Before buying it, I thought it might be too plain, or utilitarian when I saw the gray cover. Upon getting the book and opening it, I was very pleased. The pages are a creamy colour with beautiful numbering of the 'chapters' in red at the top of each page. The spacing of words and verses in the book make it very attractive and accessible for a short reading session or reading through the entire book in a single sitting.
Ultimately, my notes above are rather irrelevant to why you might enjoy this book. The Tao Te Ching is a wonderful work of wisdom. It's lessons are beautiful and resonate with one's inner nature. The Tao is one of many sources to draw spiritual instruction and refreshment from. I suggest reading it through many times and meditating on certain parts and see where that takes you.
The Tao is priceless, this copy of the Tao Te Ching is excellent value for the price.
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Marcello
5.0 out of 5 stars Geht doch
Reviewed in Germany on April 17, 2015
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Mittlerweile gibt es einige Übersetzungen des taoistischen Klassikers. Jedoch gibt es nur wenige, die wirklich das rüberbringen können, was der Klassiker auch wirklich vermitteln will. Die Tiefe und Weisheit des Werkes werden in der Übersetzung von Mitchell konserviert. Der Übersetzer schafft es in der Tat, die Aphorismen so in das Englische zu kleiden, dass ihre Gewand bunt und strahlend bleibt und das Herz ansprechen. Für jeden der gut Englisch kann nur zu empfehlen!
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Tao Te Ching
by Stephen Mitchell (Goodreads Author)
4.28 · Rating details · 136,848 ratings · 6,020 reviews
A lucid translation of the well-known Taoist classic by a leading scholar-now in a Shambhala Pocket Library edition.
Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching, or -The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, - is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature. Traditionally attributed to the legendary -Old Master, - Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual. Today, Lao Tzu's words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life. To follow the Tao or Way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity.
John C. H. Wu has done a remarkable job of rendering this subtle text into English while retaining the freshness and depth of the original. A jurist and scholar, Dr. Wu was a recognized authority on Taoism and the translator of several Taoist and Zen texts and of Chinese poetry.
This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life. (less)
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Published July 27th 2004 by HarperCollins Publishers (first published -400)
Original TitleTao Teh Ching
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There are so many version of this book! Which one should I read first? https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=+Tao+Te+Jing++Lao+Tsu&search=Find+book
6 Likes · Like 5 Years Ago See All 10 Answers
John An online search will pull up a pdf with 8 translations, the Bureau of Public Secrets archive links to many, and there is an Hungarian site (in Englis…more
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I'm familiar with Stephen Mitchell's translation and with Ursula Le Guin's. Seems clear from both translations that there is a significant difference... How does this translation compare? Curious about it if anyone has any input. Thanks!
7 Likes · Like 6 Years Ago See All 3 Answers
Larry Campbell I experienced the same frustration with "which translation". As a result, I have just released a book "The Parallel Tao Te Ching: A Comparison of Engl…more
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trivialchemy
Jun 06, 2007trivialchemy rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: antiquity, philosophy
The book that can be reviewed is not the constant book.
The review which reviews can be neither full of review nor lacking.
But as the river changes course over seasons must the reviewer neither review nor not review, but follow the constant review.
flag611 likes · Like · 59 comments · see review
Gerry
Jun 28, 2007Gerry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I'm an unbeliever and have been since the first time I played hooky from Sunday services and the Eye in the Sky didn’t say boo. So it may seem strange that I’m reviewing the Tao Te Ching, the widely known and influential Taoist text, written by Lao-Tzu and poetically translated in this edition by Stephen Mitchell. For me, the Tao Te Ching is more folk wisdom than religious treatise and is more useful than a million sermons.
Where the Tao Te Ching parts company with religious attempts at morality such as the 10 Commandments is in its inclusiveness. Seven of the 10 Commandments don’t mention God and are sound advice designed to facilitate peaceful community relations: respect your elders, don't kill, don't cheat on your spouse, don't steal, don't tell lies, and don't lust after another's spouse or his belongings. For me, the tragedy of the Great List is that the three that top it serve only to divide the world into believers and nonbelievers: regardless how closely you follow the last seven, if you don’t believe in God you’re not worth a fig. In doing so the first three create division where the last seven seek harmony. With Taoism, even if you don’t believe in the Force-like nature of the Tao—and in case there’s any question, I don’t—you can still consider yourself a Taoist.
Taoism seeks harmony by freeing the individual from the caustic effects of judgmental thinking, desire, and greed, and its fulcrum is the concept of “non-action,” or literally “doing not-doing.” Non-action, Mitchell writes in his introduction, is not the act of doing nothing but instead is the purest form of action: “The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.”
This slim book is both a quick read and a long study. Mitchell’s lyrical rendering of the Tao Te Ching might read to some like silly hippie clichés, but there’s more to it than that. Take chapter 9, a photocopy of which hung on my office corkboard for years:
Fill your cup to the brim and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner.
You can almost see the hacky sack and smell the patchouli. But there’s a truth to it that, if grasped, will change the way you think.
As chapter 1 states: “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao./The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.” Analogy, then, plays an important role in understanding the Tao Te Ching, and the reader has to do quite a bit of work—the long study part—to fathom the book’s richness. Take chapter 11 in its entirety, where non-action is discussed:
We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.
We work with being, but non-being is what we use.
There is more to the book than philosophical abstraction. In fact, common sense pervades the Tao Te Ching. Take these lines, which discuss the roots of crime: “If you overvalue possessions, people begin to steal” (chapter 2) and “If you don’t trust the people you make them untrustworthy” (chapter 17). Or these, from chapter 38, which describe the toll of illusory thought:
When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
The beginning of chaos.
Therefore the Master concerns himself with the depths and not the surface,
With the fruit and not the flower.
He has no will of his own.
He dwells in reality, and lets all illusions go.
I’m telling you, had I been born into Taoism I might actually believe in something. (less)
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Ahmad Sharabiani
Apr 27, 2012Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: china, culture, asia, theosophy, 06th-century-bc, religion, buddhism
Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
The Tao Te Ching, also known by its pinyin romanization Dao De Jing, is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to the 6th-century BC sage Laozi.
The text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi.
The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism.
It also strongly influenced other schools of Chinese philosophy and religion, including Legalism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, which was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts when it was originally introduced to China.
Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and gardeners, have used the Tao Te Ching as a source of inspiration. Its influence has spread widely outside East Asia and it is among the most translated works in world literature.
The highest good is like water. Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive. It flows in places men reject and so is like ... In action, watch the timing. No fight: No blame. Lao Tzu
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز سوم ماه آگوست سال 2012میلادی
عنوان: استاد پیر: تائوته چینگ، یا، کتاب پیروی مستقیم از راه و روش هستی و حیات با راهنمائی درک درونی (دل)؛ نویسنده: لائو تزو؛ مترجم: مهدی ثریا؛ نشر قوانین، 1373؛ در 107ص؛ موضوع نوشتارهای نویسندگان چین - سده شش پیش از میلاد
عنوان: تائو ته چینگ؛ نویسنده: لائو تزو؛ مترجم: امیرحسن قائمی؛ ویراستار ایوب کوشان؛ تهران، چاپ مترجمها، 1379؛ در 109ص؛ شابک9643506967؛
عنوان: تائو ته چینگ؛ نویسنده: لائو تزو؛ مترجم: فرشید قهرمانی؛ تهران، سیاه مشق، 1382؛ در 81ص؛ شابک 9649447229؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، مثلث، 1383؛ چاپ سوم 1386؛ شابک 9648496064؛ چاپ چهارم 1386؛ پنجم و ششم 1387؛ هفتم و هشتم 1388؛ نهم 1389؛ یازدهم 1390؛ دوازدهم 1391؛ سیزدهم تا پانزدهم 1392؛ شابک 9789648496062؛ موضوع راهنمای هنر زندگی از نویسندگان چینی - سده 6پیش از میلاد
مترجمهای دیگر آقایان: اردلان عطارپور؛ محمدرضا چنگیز؛ سید حسین نصر؛
این متن کهن را، به «لائو تزو» یا «لائو دزو» نسبت داده اند، «لائو تزو»، ششصد سال پیش از میلاد مسیح، و همزمان با «کنفوسیوس»، میزیسته است؛ «لائو تزو» همان مرشد، پیر، یا استاد هستند؛ تاریخنگار، و کتابدار دربار امپراطوری «جو»، بوده اند، و تنها همین کتاب، از ایشان به یادگار مانده؛ راهنمای هنر زندگی، و خرد ناب است؛ گفته اند: «لائو تزو» یک زندگی ساده، و هماهنگ با طبیعت، داشته اند، که همان پیام «تائو» میباشد، عمری دراز زیسته اند، گویا بین یکصد و شصت تا دویست سال زیسته باشند؛ ...؛
نقل از متن: خوب همانند آب است، بدون تلاش همه را سیراب میکند، جمع شدن در گودها را کوچک نمیشمارد؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 02/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 02/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی (less)
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Dolors
Sep 02, 2014Dolors rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: Those wanting to hear the other version
Recommended to Dolors by: the voices
Shelves: read-in-2014
“The Tao is always nameless” (Chapter 71)
Trying to narrow down the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching with limiting words is to violate its primordial essence. How can one describe the Universe, the natural order of things, the incessant flowing from being to non-being, the circular unity of a reality traditionally mismatched in dualistic terms?
The Tao Te Ching doesn’t provide answers because there needn’t be questions, just the harmony of moulding to the landscape rather than trying to impose a particular shape on it.
The Tao Te Ching is the route in itself, the path to emptying the human mind of ambitions, schemes and desires and allow it to be flooded with the smoothness of humility and the exhilarating liberation of a simple life.
The Tao Te Ching exults the feminine yin over the masculine yang in the eternal interdependence of opposites, identifying its indwelling suppleness with the intrinsic elements of the Tao.
“The great state should be like a river basin.
The mixing place of the world,
The feminine of the world.
The feminine always overcomes the masculine by its softness
Because softness is lesser.” (Chapter 61)
Thus the Tao cannot be expressed, it has no name, it is indivisible, inaudible and immutable but also the origin of multiplicity that gives way to ambivalent interpretation, which in turn engenders the befuddling suspicion that the more one wants to unravel the Tao the less one masters it because its aim relays precisely in attaining unforced wisdom.
Composed of eighty one aphorisms with aesthetic lyricism reminiscent of ancient riddles or even taunting wordplay, the Tao Te Ching dismisses moral teachings, embraces paradoxical dichotomies and differentiates itself from other doctrines like Confucianism because it relays in intuition rather than in duty rooted on imposed moral principles or any other contrived authority.
According to the introduction (*), some schools of thought have accused the Tao of endorsing chaotic anarchy and of not responding to consistent criteria, but such ambiguity in the use of language and its playful axioms are in fact a pure reflection of its skeptical views on measuring all actions according to artificial rules disguised as traditional rituals.
I can’t claim to have found everlasting serenity in connecting to the natural flow of Taoism and accepting its philosophy of “action through inaction”, but the idea of finding comfort in the constant contradiction of the positive and negative forces within oneself in order to embrace the convoluted intricacies of existence casts an overwhelming shadow to the absolute dichotomies and blind beliefs prompted by the more familiar monotheistic “fear based” religions, where guilt, punishment and suffering are the conduits to salvation.
Why crave for redemption if we learn to follow the “way things are” and welcome the natural interdependence between opposites, accepting disorder, nothingness and non-being as part of the indestructible unity of all things?
“There is nothing better than to know that you don’t know” (Chapter 71)
(*) Note: The Barnes & Nobles edition comes with an explanatory introduction about the origins of the Tao, a very useful epilogue and an historical timeline of the identity of its mysterious author(s). Highly recommended edition.
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Burt
Aug 17, 2007Burt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommends it for: Philosophers, Followers of Eastern Thought
Shelves: philosophy, required_reading
This is, by far, my favorite translation of the Tao Te Ching. I own a few others and they're all well and good, but this one is the one I continually read from and refer to when people ask me about the Tao.
The translation is well done, it captures the nature of the text well, and it flows fairly evenly. It's not overly flowery or ornate, it gives you the basics of what you need to understand the various entries and assist in understanding what Tao is (i.e. the the Tao named Tao is not the great, eternal Tao).
It's a book that changed my life. I learned of Taoism in a world history class in high school, and when my friends took their Philosophy 101 course at the local university this was the text they worked with. My copy came second hand from the U's bookstore and I have had it ever since. It has taught me to understand a lot of the things in the world that otherwise would baffle me and lends a lot to my own personal philosophies.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is lost on their path through life. It doesn't have all of the answers, but it does have a LOT of perspective. (less)
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Heidi Parton
Nov 15, 2011Heidi Parton rated it did not like it · review of another edition
This version irritates me a lot, largely because of Stephen Mitchell's arrogance in writing it (I'll go into that in a bit). This is not a translation (which Mitchell was at least gracious enough to make clear in the back of the book); it's a translation of various translations. The problem with this is that a translation of a translation turns out the same way that a copy of a copy does: while some of the original words and phrases are identifiable, there's a lot that's lost or skewed.
For example, here is a good translation of the first line of Ch. 3 by D.C. Lau: "Not to honor men of worth will keep the people from contention."
Stephen Mitchell's translation of the same line is: "If you overesteem great men, / people become powerless."
The original Wang Bi character in question is 爭, or zhēng, which means "dispute," "strive," "contend," "fight," etc. It does not mean "powerless." By free-handing the translation, Mitchell alters the meaning of the text. While it doesn't damage the understanding of someone already familiar with Taoism and its literature, it does mislead those new to Taoism who seek an authentic introductory text to understand the philosophy.
As I mentioned above, what really irritates me is Mitchell's arrogance regarding his version of the text versus the original Chinese versions and the translations that more closely adhere to their meaning. In the question-and-answer section located in the back of the book, the querent says: "But it's one thing to translate Rilke and the Book of Job when you read German and Hebrew; it's quite another to translate books like the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, or Gilgamesh without any knowledge of the original languages." Mitchell's response is: "Yes, it's a different kind of venture, but not so different as you might think. Of course, I wouldn't dare work with a text that I didn't feel deeply connected to--I used to speak of my 'umbilical connection' to Lao-tzu. I had discovered the Tao Te Ching shortly before I began Zen training in 1973." Later, the querent asks: "You knew what Lao-tzu was talking about, through direct experience [in Zen meditation] of your own?" And Mitchell replies: "That's where my confidence came from." Essentially, Mitchell is claiming that his text is authentic because of his felt spiritual connection to its author, rather than it being an accurate translation of the text. But isn't the best translation one that is authentic on multiple levels, emotionally and literally? However, if I had to choose, I'd rather read a translation that is accurate and discover the emotional resonance on my own. Also, FYI: Zen is a school of Buddhism, not Taoist, though it was influenced by Taoism. They share some similar values and qualities, but they are distinct.
Mitchell continues: "There was also the excitement of the aesthetic challenge. Some calculated that by 1986 there were 102 translations of the Tao Te Ching into English alone. I had read six or seven of them, and although I loved the content, the language was mediocre at best: not much poetry in it, not much sparkle. This may sound arrogant too, and irrational. How can you fall in love with a book whose actual words bore you? But that's what happened." This sentiment, I think, is the source of all the problems I have with the text. It's completely non-Taoist. If Mitchell had paid attention to even his version of the last chapter, 81, which reads: "True words aren't eloquent; / eloquent words aren't true," he would have seen the folly of his approach. Instead, he decided that he'd rather cut entire paragraphs, rearrange the remaining words, and even alter the meaning to better suit his aesthetic values. His disregard for accuracy and his preference for his concept of beauty over truth not only shows a complete lack of respect for the text, the tradition and its culture of origin; it's also just not scholarly.
Another interesting admission made by Mitchell is that he spent only four months writing this version. "By contrast," he says, "it had taken me seventeen years to finish my translation of the Book of Job. So, obviously, I was getting more focused, or more efficient..." I disagree with him there--it's not obvious to me that he was any more focused or more efficient. The vast difference in time spent translating Job and rewriting the Tao Te Ching instead tells me that he worked very hard to faithfully render the former and just cobbled together the latter. Mitchell actually reads and understands Hebrew, so it's likely that he was aware of the nuances of the language and therefore understood the importance of accurately rendering the text into English. Mitchell doesn't read any Chinese. If the language is incomprehensible to him, how can he possibly grasp the nuances of the characters in order to accurately translate them for others?
This isn't to say that his version is completely wrong. Many sections are fairly accurate (like the line in Ch. 81 that I mentioned above). But there are also many places in his text that are inaccurate to the point of misconstruing the core concepts of the belief system.
So if you're new to Taoism and are looking for a translation that accurately communicates Taoist beliefs and sensibilities, I suggest that you go somewhere else. There are many other translations that more accurately render the Tao Te Ching in English. Each has its own particular "flavor" and may contain slightly different words or rhythms, but most aim to faithfully present an accurate translation of the text that, while not serving every culture's aesthetic requirements, is very beautiful in its own way and has a lot of wisdom to offer, regardless of cultural and generational differences in taste. Here's a good website to get you started: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.ph... The site provides not only several different translations, but also the original Wang Bi text with translations of each character.
If, however, you're already familiar with the Tao Te Ching and other Taoist literature, Mitchell's book at least serves as a good example of Taoism's effect on contemporary American culture. (less)
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Eddie Watkins
Mar 13, 2009Eddie Watkins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: old-chinese-poetry, spirituality, adventures-in-thought
There are many translations of the Taoteching, nearly every one of which is probably worth reading, but this is my favorite version. I can’t attest to the accuracy of the translation, but having read so many different translations of the same text I feel like in some strange way I have a grasp of the original; as if a blank space (the Chinese original) has been given shape and definition by all the English versions surrounding it. But anyway... while I like the spare sensitivity of the language in this version, what makes this version extra special are the added bonuses: an engagingly detailed introduction exploring the life of Lao Tzu, what amounts to an original thesis on the very meaning of “tao”, and commentaries (on specific lines, even specific words) appended to each of the 81 entries that have been culled from centuries upon centuries of critical commentary, by scholars and eccentric mystics alike.
There is recent scholarship that is making the argument that instead of meaning “way” or “path”, which is usually taken to mean how we as people conduct ourselves in accordance with a mysterious spiritual principle, that “tao” actually refers to the Moon and its various phases and paths in space, with particular emphasis on the darkness of the new moon and its significance as potential in darkness. The new moon “hides” its fullness. The fullness is there in potential, unspent. I like this. There’s something pleasingly primitive about it (gimme that old-time religion!), i.e. something real and tangibly mysterious, but also something practical and spiritual – a connector between eye and heart that through some subtle gravity guides our feet along a path.
The commentaries that follow each poem or entry are fascinating and just scratch the surface of what I understand is a vast accumulation of scholarship on this text. The commentaries are often wildly contradictory and tangential, obsessive to an anal nth degree, but also at times wise in their own right. These commentaries have been written by official scholars, by mendicant monks, and even one or two extreme eccentrics living on the fringes of society unaffiliated with any institution. At the back of the book are short biographies of each commentator, which is fascinating reading in itself. It all adds up to evidence that this is a living book, with enough clear and direct meaning to be perpetually valid, and enough obscurity to be endlessly pondered.
The translator is an American who goes by the name Red Pine. He’s almost 70 now and has been a practicing Buddhist for years, but more in the wandering independent scholar Gary Snyder type style. He’s also translated the Diamond Sutra, poems of Han Shan (Cold Mountain) and Stonehouse, and some other Buddhist texts. In every work of his I’ve read there’s serious scholarship in evidence, but also a free spirit and independent thinker with a unique store of fresh air.
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Florencia
Aug 18, 2018Florencia rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: religions-myths-and-other-stories, chinese, philosophyland
Concatenated thoughts. Review #1 ✔ - #2
They come to be and he claims no possession of them,
He works without holding on,
Accomplishes without claiming merit.
Because he does not claim merit,
His merit does not go away.
The Tao Te Ching is a classical text credited to Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu (6th century) and on which Taoism is based. It consists of 81 short chapters written in poetic form which, using a pithy language brimming with evocative and, at times, repetitive contradictions, provide guidance on how humanity may have a harmonious relationship with nature, with the Tao. In an inspiringly laconic way, the chapters reveal the sage’s fundamental truths that range from theology to politics, inseparable components of the Tao Te Ching.
I read two editions simultaneously: Ellen Chen’s The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary and Stephen Mitchell’s Tao Te Ching: A New English Version. After reading chapter 11 by the latter, the merits of each work became particularly noticeable.
Chen's translation is an accurate marvel. It's the kind of translation I like; literal as possible. I don't want only the translator's interpretation, I want to know the precise words that went through the author's mind. I've made peace with everything that gets lost in translation, so at least give me surgical precision.
On the opposite side stands Mitchell with another approach: divesting the verses of all metaphor, he focuses on the meaning, the thoughts Lao Tzu intended to convey. In that sense, it's a remarkable work; a detailed examination of all the elements that constitute this treatise. While keeping a small amount of literality, it expresses a similar interpretation.
If I have to choose, I prefer Chen's academic translation with its enriching commentary over Mitchell's version with its still lyrical directness. Even though she generally refers to the sage as a man, whereas Mitchell states that since we are all, potentially, the Master (since the Master is, essentially, us), I felt it would be untrue to present a male archetype, as other versions have, ironically, done. Ironically, because of all the great world religions the teaching of Lao tzu is by far the most female.
As for my experience with this book, I should revisit it in a few years... The dynamics between opposites that say and don't say, that affirm and deny, that teach without speaking and act without doing; it all starts to get a tad annoying after a while. I wasn't able to identify with some notions, naturally; my skeptical disposition began to take control rather soon. However, The Tao Te Ching includes several useful concepts to improve our fleeting stay in this world. Moreover, many of those impressions are addressed to politicians. In that regard, this book should be required reading for every single one of them.
I close this 'review' with some chapters according to the views of each translator.**
#18
On the decline of the great Tao,
There are humanity (jen) and righteousness (i)...
General comment
The overall message of this chapter, just as in preceding and subsequent chapters, is that the unconscious state of nature is superior to the conscious state of virtue. Consciousness marks a lack. We are not aware of and do not pursue something until we have already become separated from it.
*
#30
One who assists the ruler with Tao,
Does not overpower (ch 'iang) the world by military conquests.
Such affairs have a way of returning (huan):
Where armies are stationed,
Briars and thorns grow,
After great campaigns,
Bad years are sure to follow.
The good person is resolute (lwo) only,
But dares not (kan) take the path of the strong (ch 'iang).
Be resolute (kuo) yet do not boast (ching),
Be resolute yet do not show off (fa), Be resolute yet do not be haughty,
Be resolute because you have no choice,
Be resolute yet do not overpower (ch 'iang).
When things are full grown, they age.
This is called not following Tao.
Not following Tao they perish early.
General comment
While the preceding chapter serves as the basis of a theology of nature, this chapter provides the rationale for a theology of peace. It carries the theme of non-action or non-domination in the preceding chapter to international relations. If humans are not supposed to dominate other creatures, neither should they dominate fellow humans. This chapter is a critique of military power (ch 'iang) specifically against wars, which are instruments of death.
*
#66
Rivers and seas can be kings of the hundred valleys,
Because they are good at flowing downwards (hsia).
Therefore they can be kings of the hundred valleys.
Thus if you desire to be above the people,
Your words must reach down (hsia) to them.
If you desire to lead the people, Your person (shen, body) must be behind them.
Thus the sage is above,
Yet the people do not feel his weight.
He stays in front,
Yet the people do not suffer any harm.
Thus all gladly praise him untiringly (pu yen).
Because he does not contend with any,
Therefore no one under heaven can contend with him.
General comment
This chapter on the relationship between the ruler and the people is directly connected with chapter 61, which is on the relationship among states. The key concept is again hsia, low or downward flowing. In domestic affairs as well as in international relations, the ruler is to imitate water by reaching downward to the people, assisting in their own self-unfolding without imposing himself on them.
Aug 18, 18
* Also on my blog.
** I shared the same chapters on each review. (less)
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Tanu
Apr 23, 2021Tanu rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook, self-help, japanese-literature, reviewed, philosophy, classic, cultural
"If you realize that all things change, there's nothing you will try to hold on to.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess
acts but doesn't expect.
The Tao Te Ching clarifies the concepts of Taoism, an ancient school of philosophy that continues to be relevant today. In the 6th century BCE, Lao Tzu created Taoism, which has been passed down the generations.
This book definitely is not a one time read. Something to keep coming back once in a while, like a place of worship. This book is poetry to the soul and mind.
Grab your copy here. (less)
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Jonathan O'Neill
Jan 29, 2021Jonathan O'Neill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: philosophy-psychology-religion
12 highlights
4.5 ⭐
I have delved deeper into the ‘Tao Te Ching’ in my review of the more scholarly translation by D.C.Lau which you can find HERE.
In this space I just want to focus on what Ursula K. Le Guin brings to the table and what exactly makes her rendition of the classic, unique from the plethora of other translations and renditions that are available.
I have to commend D.C.Lau for his fantastic translation of the Tao, which includes a wonderful introduction as well as two very informative appendices. But as his expertise really shines through in these elaborate discussions on the history and meaning of the text, so too does Ursula’s incredible talent as a writer, a poet and a humble student of the Tao throughout the entirety of this 126-page book.
”Most translations have caught meanings in their net, but prosily, letting the beauty slip through. And in poetry, beauty is no ornament; it is the meaning.”
Le Guin’s rendition is one for the modern reader. Where some of the passages in other translations make it clear that this was, in many ways, a manual for rulers; Le Guin takes liberty in changing certain phrases to relate more to the everyday individual. I loved the confidence she showed in taking on and re-interpreting this ancient work, whilst always showing respect to the material and addressing, clearly, any amendments that she made. With regard to Chapter 24, Ursula says: ”My version of the first four lines of the second verse doesn’t follow any scholarly translations, and is quite unjustified, but at least, unlike them it makes sense without horrible verbal contortions”. Regarding Chapter 72, she says: ”I take the liberty of reading this chapter as a description of what we, we ordinary people, should fear. The usual reading is in the manual-for-princes mode”. I love this type of honest commentary from Ursula, and it’s prevalent throughout the Chapter Notes as well as the Footnotes at the bottom of most pages which are just phenomenal, short and sharp insights into the text, nearly as sagacious as the passages of the Tao themselves.
”To those who will not admit morality without a deity to validate it, or spirituality of which man is not the measure, the firmness of Lao Tzu’s morality and the sweetness of his spiritual counsel must seem incomprehensible, or illegitimate, or very troubling indeed”.
In addition to her fantastic commentary on the chapters of the Tao, Le Guin also brings her own insight to the questionable origins of the text through analysis of the poem structures within. At one stage, regarding Chapter 42, Ursula explains: ”The last stanza is uncharacteristic in it’s didactic tone and in assimilating the teaching to a tradition… I was inclined to dismiss it as a marginal note by someone who was teaching and annotating the text”.. Regarding Chapter 44, she states: ”The intense, succinct, beautiful language of the first verses of the poem is sometimes followed by a verse or two in a more didactic tone, smaller in scope, and far more prosaic. I believe some of these verses are additions, comments, and examples, copied into the manuscripts so long ago that they became holy writ”. What a keen mind. D.C.Lau comes to the same conclusion for similar reasons.
I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition of the Tao Te Ching and am pleased I started my Ursula K. Le Guin journey here. She reveals in the ‘Sources’ section that the title for her 1971 Science Fiction novel, ‘The Lathe of Heaven’ came from an incorrect translation of a passage from the Chuang Tzu(Another essential Taoist text) by James Legge. Joseph Needham, the great scholar of Chinese Science and Technology would later explain to her that when the Chuang Tzu was written, the lathe hadn’t been invented. I’m very curious to read ‘The Lathe of Heaven’ to see how much of an influence Le Guin’s lifelong study of Taoism had on the work.
“The way is more than the cycle of any individual life. We, rise, flourish, fail. The way never fails. We are waves. It is the sea. (less)
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Jonathan O'Neill
Jan 29, 2021Jonathan O'Neill rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: philosophy-psychology-religion
12 highlights
4 ⭐
The Tao is definitely the most beautifully elusive and intangible philosophy that I've had the pleasure of trying to wrap my head around. Everything about it drips with mystery and mysticism, right down to it’s purported author, the enigma that is Lao Tzu. I really made an effort to understand what was meant by each and every poem. I read Ursula K. Le Guin’s rendition alongside this, more scholarly translation, by D.C.Lau and I listened to multiple audio versions, driving to and from work, but still, I feel I only received just the barest glimpse into the depth of Lao Tzu’s words. I’m not particularly surprised by this, people spend their entire lives studying the Tao, attempting to keep to ‘The Way’. You don’t just read this on a whim and suddenly start living the Tao. In fact, in my opinion, if one were to heed Lao Tzu’s words, one would likely come to the conclusion that we’ve strayed so far off the path as a people, that to get back on it would take an unrealistically monumental change in worldview, philosophy and ideology.
The book relishes in its own mystery. As Le Guin states so aptly in her rendition, there is a “temptation… to grasp at something tangible in the endlessly deceptive simplicity of the words” but, on occasion, the slipperiness of the idea… Is the idea.
If I had a dollar for every 30-something pommy hipster I’ve seen on YouTube, repeating Lau Tzu’s 1st chapter with a self-satisfied smirk…
”The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.”
… only to then immediately attempt to explain it anyway! They obviously never reached chapter 71: ”Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.”
You can’t label or define the Tao as by doing so you limit its function which is, inherently, limitless. All one can know is that it was “born before heaven and earth” and supports the universe. It is responsible for the strong being strong but equally responsible for the weak being weak. We can’t define it but we can definitely discuss the concepts that make up the Taoist teachings.
"The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. When I no longer have a body, what trouble have I?"
Ideal attributes of the Taoist include modesty, frugality, contentment (desirelessness), compassion, tenderness, softness, vulnerability, selflessness (benefitting others without expecting gratitude), non-contention, ignorance (apparently) and the ability to find positives in negatives (i.e. without lows, there are no highs… Without death, there is no life… We suffer, but only because we have a body).
Doing not doing is also an ongoing theme in the book. I’ve been banging on about this one for years to my fiancé and she just tells me I’m a lazy fu… sod! Lao Tzu says: ”One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone”…. What? If everyone else is allowed to take ancient philosophies out of context, so am I damn it! In all seriousness though, Lao Tzu usually uses this phrase in relation to governance, as in, a leader should lead with minimal meddling in the affairs of the people. Or in relation to the individual, living without striving for more. So, yeah, still gotta do the dishes.
“He who shows himself is not conspicuous;
He who considers himself right is not illustrious;
He who brags will have no merit;
He who boasts will not endure."
Be like water. Another common theme… ”there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. I have come across this idea in the form of analogy and/or metaphor now in 3 works. Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’, Lao Tzu’s ‘Tao Te Ching’ and Bruce Lee’s ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do’, each time given slight variation in its implication and, I love it! The only issue I have, in this case, is that, at times Lao Tzu’s “weak” and “soft” descend into utter subservience to anything stronger or greater than yourself. Essentially giving in as a means of survival. D C Lau explains that this is likely a result of the time in which the book was written (The Warring States) in which self-preservation was as much as many would dare to achieve.
The Tao Te Ching is not just a book about a way for the individual to live in sync with the Tao. Lao Tzu also likes to comment on the dangers of wealth and living beyond ones most basic needs, as well as expressing his opinions on governance and anti-violence sentiments. Lao Tzu was an anti-capitalist and anarchist before these things even existed.
Those who possess too much wealth while others starve, who are “dressed in fineries” or “filled with food and drink” while others go hungry, he condemns as “taking the lead in robbery”.
Whilst not completely anarchistic, Lao Tzu is almost completely anti-legislative and believes that leaders should lead with minimal meddling in the affairs of the people, stating, ”…the myriad creatures all revere the way and honour virtue. Yet the way is revered and virtue honoured not because this is decreed by any authority but because it is natural for them to be treated so”. Later, he likens governing a large state to “boiling a small fish” because a small fish can be spoiled with too much handling.
”The rites are the wearing thin of loyalty and good faith
And the beginning of disorder;
Foreknowledge is the flowery embellishment of the way
And the beginning of folly.”
These views regarding governance tie in with one of his more extreme ideas that education, innovation and progress are all things to be avoided. Ignorant people are easier to rule and one should also rule in ignorance. It’s essentially an expansion on the idea of not doing. There’s an anti-change and anti-intellectual leaning in his words. In Chapter 29, Lao says: ”The empire is a sacred vessel and nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it”. Le Guin says: ”As a model for the Taoist, a baby is in many ways ideal: totally un-altruistic, not interested in politics, business or the proprieties, weak [and] soft”.
Although I disagree, on many levels, with Lao’s concept, it’s hard to ignore the fact that for all the progress the human race has made on an industrial, technological, political and psychological level, we’ve still managed to completely fuck our planet, almost beyond repair, and despite the fact that many have a better standard of living than 2500 years ago, it is hard to remember a time when so many people were so desperately unhappy.
This specific edition contains a magnificent and substantial introduction in which Lau (not to be confused with Lao) gives his own thoughtful and scholarly opinions on what some of the key concepts that can be taken from the text are. He also discusses what is known about the history of the text and the period in which it was, traditionally, thought to have been compiled in and addresses inconsistencies in the text, giving convincing arguments for the case that the book was likely not written by one wise old sage named Lao Tzu at all, but in fact was a compilation of many different Taoist thinkers, their disciples and, later, various commentators. Lau later comments further on this in two very interesting appendices titled ‘The Problem of Authorship’ and ‘The Nature of the Work’. Personally, I’d prefer not to acknowledge that this text may have been written after Confucius’ time or that Lao Tzu may never have existed. I’m too enamoured with the idea of an old sage, so wise and all-knowing as to render Confucius himself bewildered enough to allegedly exclaim to his own disciples:
”I know a bird can fly, a fish can swim, and an animal can run… But the dragon’s ascent into heaven on the wind and the clouds is something which is beyond my knowledge. Today I have seen Lao Tzu who is perhaps like a dragon.” (less)
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Sean Barrs
Oct 27, 2018Sean Barrs rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: poetry
This was immensely interesting to read, though I found myself somewhat aggravated by the passivism that ran through the writing.
It's almost like a poetical treatise on humility, but what of ambition and a drive to make the world a better place? Should we all accept our station in life and never aim to improve? I think not. It accepts things as they are (however they are) and cannot conceive of a better future. Everything should stay the same, and exist within the natural order of things.
But how do we define the natural?
VI
The Spirit of the valley never dies
This is called the mysterious female.
The gateway of the mysterious female
Is called the route of heaven on earth.
Dimly visible, it seems as if it were there,
Yet use will never drain it.
description
The poem speaks of mother nature as replenishing and everlasting; she will always endure and is the gateway to heaven on earth, to our own nirvana. We can never completely spend her. The metaphor is for the path as Taoism and nature are one and the same here. For the speaker, Taoism (or the way) is the most natural of things we can partake in. We will also never drain the benefits of it and they will also last perpetually. And these ideas for me felt strong and real, but the writing also muses over empire.
XXIX
Whoever takes the empire and wishes to do anything to it
I see will have no respite. The Empire is a sacred vessel and
nothing should be done to it. Whoever does anything to it
will ruin it; whoever lays hold of it will lose it.
Hence some things lead and some follow;
Some breath gently and some breathe hard;
Some are strong and some are weak;
Some destroy and some are destroyed.
Therefore the sage avoids excess, extravagance and arrogance.
I take so much issue with this quote. In what way can we ever refer to an Empire as natural? Empire's are always built with the blood of someone else. The quote also shows how people are all different, though it concludes that this is simply the way of things. A weak person should not try to make himself strong. Such a thing is an excess. We should simply stay humble and never challenge the norms of an Empire. (Seriously?)
And that's when I stopped listening to what the book had to say. As an historical piece it's interesting to study, but I take absolutely no stock in the words. (less)
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Florencia
Dec 13, 2017Florencia rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: chinese, philosophyland, religions-myths-and-other-stories
Concatenated thoughts. Review #1 - #2 ✔
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
The Tao Te Ching is a classical text credited to Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu (6th century) and on which Taoism is based. It consists of 81 short chapters written in poetic form which, using a pithy language brimming with evocative and, at times, repetitive contradictions, provide guidance on how humanity may have a harmonious relationship with nature, with the Tao. In an inspiringly laconic way, the chapters reveal the sage’s fundamental truths that range from theology to politics, inseparable components of the Tao Te Ching.
I read two editions simultaneously: Ellen Chen’s The Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary and Stephen Mitchell’s Tao Te Ching: A New English Version. After reading chapter 11 by the latter, the merits of each work became particularly noticeable.
Chen's translation is an accurate marvel. It's the kind of translation I like; as literal as possible. I don't want only the translator's interpretation, I want to know the precise words that went through the author's mind. I've made peace with everything that gets lost in translation, so at least give me surgical precision.
On the opposite side stands Mitchell with another approach: divesting the verses of all metaphor, he focuses on the meaning, the thoughts Lao Tzu intended to convey. In that sense, it's a remarkable work; a detailed examination of all the elements that constitute this treatise. While keeping a small amount of literality, it expresses a similar interpretation.
If I have to choose, I prefer Chen's academic translation with its enriching commentary over Mitchell's version with its still lyrical directness. Even though she generally refers to the sage as a man, whereas Mitchell states that since we are all, potentially, the Master (since the Master is, essentially, us), I felt it would be untrue to present a male archetype, as other versions have, ironically, done. Ironically, because of all the great world religions the teaching of Lao tzu is by far the most female.
As for my experience with this book, I should revisit it in a few years... The dynamics between opposites that say and don't say, that affirm and deny, that teach without speaking and act without doing; it all starts to get a tad annoying after a while. I wasn't able to identify with some notions, naturally; my skeptical disposition began to take control rather soon. However, The Tao Te Ching includes several useful concepts to improve our fleeting stay in this world. Moreover, many of those impressions are addressed to politicians. In that regard, this book should be required reading for every single one of them.
I close this 'review' with some chapters according to the views of each translator.**
#18
When the great Tao is forgotten,
Goodness and pity appear…
Notes:
the great Tao: Jayata said to Vasubandu, “If you have nothing to ask for in your mind, that state of mind is called the Tao”.
goodness and pity appear: When the Tao is forgotten, people act according to rules, not from the heart. This goodness is as insecure as Job's and can be as self-satisfied as Little Jack Horner's. Whereas a good father has no intention of being good; he just acts naturally.
*
#30
Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men
doesn't try to force issues
or defeat enemies by force of arms.
For every force there is a counter force.
Violence, even well intentioned,
always rebounds upon oneself.
The Master does his job and then stops.
He understands that the universe
is forever out of control,
and trying to dominate events
goes against the current of the Tao.
Because he believes in himself,
he doesn’t try to convince others.
Because he is content with himself,
he doesn’t need other’s approval.
Because he accepts himself,
the whole world accepts him.
Notes:
doesn't try to force issues: He lets the issues resolve themselves.
out of control: Out of control of his own, tiny, personal, conscious self.
*
#66
All streams flow to the sea
because it is lower than they are.
Humility gives it its power.
If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn how to follow them.
The Master is above the people,
and no one feels oppressed.
She goes ahead of the people,
and no one feels manipulated.
The whole world is grateful to her.
Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.
Notes:
The Master is above the people: Not that she feels superior, but that, looking from a higher vantage point, she can see more.
The whole world is grateful to her: Even those who think they are ungrateful.
no one can compete with her: She sees everyone as her equal.
Aug 18, 18
* Also on my blog.
** I shared the same chapters on each review. (less)
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Farhan Khalid
Sep 04, 2014Farhan Khalid rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: china, religion, philosophy
When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created
When people see things as good, evil is created
The master leads by emptying people's mind
The Tao is like an empty vessel
It can never be emptied and can never be filled
Master doesn’t take sides
The spirit of emptiness is immortal
The location makes the dwelling good
Depth of understanding makes the mind good
A kind heart makes the giving good
Integrity makes the government good
Accomplishment makes your labors good
Proper timing makes a decision go ...more
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7jane
Feb 16, 20147jane rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: religion-other
(review after rereading:)
This book's contents and history have both a sense of vagueness, but not in a bad way, in my opinion. It's somewhat uncertain when it was written (circa 4th-3rd century BC), the author's life details are largely invented, and the existence of the author is not quite certain either (Lao Tzu is just his title, and also it's not known if the text is by one author, or a group of authors worked over some years). It was first translated in the late 1700s, and the oldes existing copy is from circa 300 BC.
It's a bit hard to categorise: ethics? religious? philosophy? But really, in my view any of those would do. In a way it felt a bit like Dhammapada, which I've read earlier, in that even if you're not interested in the religion it's part of, it will still appeal, and is a pretty easy a read. I read it quite quickly now.
Taoism is clearly put as an opposite way of thinking against Confucianism - which shows in some parts of this text - the latter being based on duties to the community and the family, but somewhat rigidly black and white at its hardest. Taoism is in its end less rigid, putting weight on the coexistence of the opposites, reverence of nature, flexibility and not being too controlling. The Tao is a force in the world, not completely graspable or something one can give a finite meaning, but which balances our world. It is gentleness, avoiding conflict of grasping, seeking peacefulness, simplicity, detachment and humility. Making the point without engaging in rhetoric and arguments.
The book's message is simple, the prose spare with plenty of natural imagery. The wisdom (the Tao) of the book is feminine, yin in balance with the yang (while in Confucianism the yang seems sometimes bit heavily-leaned on).
The message seems simple, yet is deep. Quite a few sentences bounced out of the text as familiar, things I've seen quoted. Reading and rereading each page will most certainly happen for me in the future. The whole thing reads just like a beautiful ancient Chinese nature painting... and the view is beautiful, peaceful. Such is this book. (less)
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Brian
Sep 04, 2017Brian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
32 highlights
4.24.19
I read this translation by Sam Torode every day on my phone, with a hard copy of another translation I will review soon. The simplicity of Torode's translation makes it my favorite so far and lines up with the Taoist philosophy of simplicity. I may consider other works translated by Torode. He has some interesting works out there, such as "The Song of Solomon."
Update: 3.14.18
Third translation I've read, my favorite of the three. I love this book of philosophy. It gives great common sense and helps pave new thought patterns not taught in American culture, paths that lead to peace and sanity. My favorite book of philosophy.
12-13-17: Great translation, helped me understand it. My favorite religious/ philosophical book aside from the Christian Bible. Shows a path of peace, contentment and subtle, quiet, managable power.
Update, 9/15/17:
I found this quote in my notebook, the only one I wrote down. Beautiful.
"Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue this long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure."
----------------------------------
“Nothingness cannot be defined; the softest thing cannot be snapped.” – Bruce Lee
My favorite quote from Bruce Lee, thus far, stretches across this page, above. The quote has reminded me of the power of humility, and the deceptive and dichotomous nature of that power. Humility clothes itself in rags of weakness and frailty but draws superhuman strength, and the Tao Te Ching calls this an empty vessel being filled with another power.
Bruce Lee based much of his life and work on the Tao Te Ching, so I read it. I admire this amazing and deeply profound piece of religious literature. The philosophy coincides with my own faith. I hear echoes of teachings I’ve heard in Christianity. The book teaches, as already mentioned, the power of humility. It teaches the value of things considered meaningless, such as empty space. We build houses, form rooms with four walls, but the basis of this structure lies upon the importance of the empty space. Empty space provides room to live, to breathe, to walk, to make love, to work.
The author also likens the paradox (and there are many, sometimes frustrating paradoxes, confirming the understanding can’t be grasped in one simple read) to that of the empty space between the spokes of a wheel. The power and mechanics of a wheel depend on the empty space.
Thus, we consider worthless things, abased things, as meaningless. We say we live life to the fullest when we have what we want, and when we lose it all, we have no meaning, no purpose, no life. The book attempts to explain this. Balance. The Yin-Yang. The point of the argument concludes with something underlying the whole of existence. One constant, the Tao. I like to think of this, in my personal paradigm of faith, as God. The book says Tao came before the existence of God, which I believe refers to man’s interpretation or attempt to understand God. The Tao exists as the fundamental, underlying essence of the universe. Above the Tao, we have the evidence of “life,” the events, the good, the bad, acceptance, rejection, bliss, pain, heaven, hell, male, female – you get it. Under all these events we also have a soul, eternal and unchanging in nature.
The book changed my perspective. I’ve recently divorced. As I experience grief, the thoughts come: life has no purpose now. Right now, in the present situation, I’m in a low, one side of the Yin-Yang. If I look back, and as Sarah Mclachlan says, “don’t let life pass [me] by; hold on to the memories,” I see the whole Yin-Yang, the whole balance, the beauty, the essence of life itself. I see a proud mother, her warm, soft hand holding mine as she says, “Lord, we come now to the throne of God.” I see a shriveled woman with tubes in her nostrils taking final breaths and slurring the words, “My son.” I see triumph as a child pitching a no-hitting season of baseball. I see my mother’s tears, and hear her weeping as we came home from my first attempt and fail at college (because of partying). I see a Father who loves me, and plays baseball with me, fishes with me. I see a father choking to hold back tears by my mother’s casket. The high, the low. The wave. Up, down, up, down. I see a beautiful lady with sea-blue eyes lying on my chest of happiness. I see a house I’m leaving as I gather my last things, and a baby-dog I’ll never see again, crying upstairs because Daddy’s going away and he knows I won’t return to walk him again.
See it all. See life. See the beauty, the lesson. See the tenderness of a mother deer licking her baby. See the lion chasing and biting the bleeding neck of her prey. See it all. This is life. The wonder, the blessing. Life. We live. We experience. The experiences only flow through a constant medium, us. I believe we exist in a timeless place called soul, and this place holds it all, the good and bad, in memories. We extend from the underlying Principle, the “Tao,” or some call it the Universe, some God. I believe this God has a face and He wants to be seen.
The author points out the paradox of softness. He refers to women as feminine, or weak, but then turns to say weakness stands stronger than strength, because strength depends on the weakness, as the walls depend on the space for meaning.
He says maturity is the end, the death, and Tao has no place with this. When we master something, it ends. A full-grown tree has only to be full-grown, and eventually wither. A new tree has begun to grow, and has a softness, and in this potential to grow, most of life abounds, because the process has just begun.
My end becomes a new beginning, always, so long as air feeds oxygen into my lungs and body. (less)
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withdrawn
Jan 31, 2015withdrawn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: philosophy-asia, dao, china
This version of the Dao De Jing, translated by Richard John Lynn, is highly recommended to those who are not looking for the touchy feely Laozi. Rather it is a translation for those interested in ancient Chinese thought. A wonderful translation.
The Dao De Jing was probably written, by author or authors unknown, in the fourth century B.C.E. and "is primarily addressed to the ruler who would be a sage-king and is mainly concerned with achieving the good society through harmony with nature....". This version includes an interpretation of the text written by Wang Bi (226-49 C.E.) not long before his premature death. Both Wang Bi and the translator or this edition, Richard John Lynn, have maintained the original intent of the Dao De Jing in not bringing in any mystical or religious concepts, which by Wang Bi's time were part of the popular view of Daoism.
In reading this version, I perceive more clearly than in most versions three strands of thought. (I acknowledge that this thing may be sliced in many other ways. See for example Michael Lafarge's quite good translation.) The first strand is basically a description of how the sage-ruler behaves/develops, 'De' (virtue, potential). The second strand is a guide to self cultivation, how to become a sage, and the third is an articulation of the basis for the other strands (and everything else, 'the myriad of things'), the 'Tao'(the nature of the universe). These strands are not kept discrete but are, rather, presented as a synthesis.
As noted above, both Wang Bi and Lynn have avoided mystical language with the result that many of the terms with which readers of other translations are familiar are translated differently. Thus: "wuwei" usually translated as "no action" is here presented as "no conscious effort". The effect of this is important in that "no action" suggests that the agent accomplishes ends by doing nothing, a mystical concept which captures the modern reader's imagination. The words "no conscious effort" suggests more of a lack of purpose. The ruler acts but not to his own ends but rather in accordance with the unfolding nature of the universe, the Tao. To act out of the Tao is to act out of nothingness, as opposed to acting out of the myriad of things which will mislead and lead to disaster.
Wang Bi begins his introduction to the work with "The way things come into existence and efficacy comes about is that things arise from the formless and efficacy emanates from the nameless. The formless and the nameless [Dao] is the progenitor of the myriad of things.". I tend to view this as I do the concept of the "big bang' in popular physics. There is nothing there and then there is an explosion out of which all that exists emanates. The "Dao" is the ever expanding universe and everything that exists and happens within it. (This last bit is totally my own fabrication to put the concept into terms which I can grasp. It works for me for now.)
Thus, the Dao is conceived of as coming out of nothing and as ever changing. It cannot be named because it does not exist as a thing. It has no form or substance and is always becoming. It cannot be known. To act in accordance with it is therefore to act according to the changing universe as an unfolding, not as a thing to be learned.
The process of becoming a sage is thus a process of coming to be aware of how the Dao unfolds. To know the essence of the Dao is to know that it is empty, that it is nothing. To understand this is to be 'authentic'. I struggled with Lynn's translation of "zhen" as 'authentic' because of the connotations carried by that English term, especially as we use it in terms of 'being authentic to the self'. Lafargue translates "Zhen" as 'genuineness' which, for me, carries the same meaning but without the same connotations. "Zhen" is used to refer to the relation to the emptiness of the Dao. One thus becomes 'authentic', not by aligning one's life with the self, but by developing an ever-changing, ever-becoming self that moves with the Dao and thus acts with the Dao. The sage-king is one who rules with the Dao by taking action only within the emptiness of the Dao. In other words, the sage-king goes with the flow.
This a very different way of conceiving of the world and how we react within it. Unlike Western thinkers, the ancient Chinese thinkers did not value learning about the world. Nor did they look to an afterlife, ancestors or gods to bring their lives into accord with the universe. (I shall continue to read this stuff until I can feel like I actually grasp it.) (less)
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