Customer Reviews

The Tao Te Ching (Element Classics of World Spirituality)

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This is a beautiful translation of the Tao Te Ching. It is not mechanistic, as is so common among English translations of this book, but attempts to flow with the beauty and prose of the original Chinese. I think the only other translation that compares to this is by Stephen Mitchell; side to side Stephen's is more scientifically accurate, but less poetic. What is commonly missed in translating this work is that the free flowing and beautiful prose plays a great deal to accuracy, but contra wise it is true that English attempts to translate this work into prose inevitably at times narrow down what should be open ended. :) If you have an interest in the Tao Te Ching, reading more than one translation helps to firmly grasp what beauty the text is in the original Chinese, and how it can be understood in various ways.

For beginners, this was my first book on Taoism. Although I am a computer scientist who enjoys logic, the Tao Te Ching brought me to the other side (dialectics), and while I keep the Mitchell translation close at hand to resolve problems in this translation, this is the translation that I go back and read time and again, not Mitchell's.

This book offers a 40 page introduction explaining the history of the Tao Te Ching and offers details of the task of translating. About it's prose and construction I can really say no more than it is beautiful, but here are two balanced examples of comparison to help (from Ch. 11 and Ch. 5 respectively):

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This translation: " Thirty spokes on a cartwheel / Go towards the hub that is the centre / -- but look, there is nothing at the centre /and that is precisely why it works!"

S. Mitchell: "We join spokes together in a wheel, / but it is the center hole / that makes the wagon move. [...] We work with being, / but non-being is what we use."

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S. Mitchell: "The Tao doesn't take sides; / it gives birth to both good and evil. / The Master doesn't take sides; / she welcomes both saints and sinners."

This translation: "Heaven and earth / are not like humans. / The Tao does not act like a human. // They don't expect to be thanked / For making life, / So they view it without expectation."

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... Those pictures are 100% Chinese paintings and the difference between Chinese paintings and Japanese painting are very distinguished. (By the way, I am a Chinese American, and know both Chinese and Japanese cultures, including language and art, quite well.)

I have read countless translations of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. This is simply the best.

I checked out this translation of and old way of Eastern Philosophy and have always loved this one better that others ... it was no longer at libary at one point and could not remember which translation it was however remember the cover and Amazon had it I was so grateful to have this it is one of my favorite books ... It is a book to ponder it's Wisdom

This book has given the ancient text of the Tao Te Ching new life. Each colorful page exudes the beauty and culture of the text. Japanese Art and Characters accompany the poetic translation. Anyone interested in Taoism would find this not only beautiful but also an informative treasure. This is not an item easily lost in your personal library. It is more likely to find its home on the coffee table.