Tao Te Ching [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Lao Tsu (Author), Jacob Needleman (Reader), Gia-Fu Feng (Translator), Jane English (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

The Tao Te Ching, a 6th-century Chinese masterpiece, is one of the worlds most revered sources of spiritual wisdom. This authoritative translation captures the essence of Lao Tsus language, bringing the Tao Te Chings powerful message to a whole new generation. Unabridged. 2 CDs.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Scholars say that the original Tao Te Ching is a poem. Like a poem, this version of the Tao Te Ching is not meant to be read in one breath from front to back, but is to be at intervals internalized and contemplated. Jane English's haunting black-and-white photos that undulate in and out on every page act as glycerin elixirs, helping the words slide into our souls for patient digestion. The photographs--of a glistening spider web, cloud-enveloped mountain tops, reflections on water, leaves in the sunlight--are as serenely lyrical as the ancient text, itself. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"No one has done better in conveying Lao Tsu's simple and laconic style of writing, so as to produce an English version almost as suggestive of the many meanings intended." —Alan Watts --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Phoenix Audio; Unabridged edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597771201
• ISBN-13: 978-1597771207
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,358,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

193 of 207 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'This is called "following the light."', August 26, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tao Te Ching, 25th-Anniversary Edition (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) (Paperback)

It is hardly difficult to understand the enduring quality of the Tao Te Ching. Written by Lao Tsu in the sixth century BC is a simple, quiet book that reflects upon our true nature and our behavior. Broken up into 81 'chapters' or short poems, it comprises a mere 5,000 words. Every other sentence is a memorable quote, and one can read it in an hour and study it for a lifetime.

What I do find remarkable is the durability of this particular edition. My copy is ancient, dating back to my college days. At frequent intervals it seems to come to hand and I will peruse it again and enjoy the clarity of this translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. They have carefully chosen a simple, accessible style which I feel completely captures the nature of the Tao. "What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man.

What is a bad man? A good man's charge."

Accompanying the text are many fine examples of Gia-Fu Feng's calligraphy and Jane English's photographs. While I like Chinese calligraphy, I lack the understanding to make any judgement. I can only report that it shows flow and grace, and works perfectly with English's photographs. These latter capture, most often with natural images, a play of contrast which often is as calligraphic as the accompanying handwriting. Thus, the book itself is a careful balance between content and form.

At the end of the day, or in an otherwise tense moment, this volume has often been the source of the tiny bit of sanity that makes the next day possible. There is much to meditate on here and this edition is a precious resource for the seeking mind.

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opening up a space for the myriad things to advance., May 14, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tao Te Ching, 25th-Anniversary Edition (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) (Paperback)

Perhaps we need different editions of the Tao Te Ching for different moods. When we are in a more analytic and outward-directed mood we will turn to an edition such as that, perhaps, of Ellen M. Chen, an edition with a substantial and stimulating introduction and with very full and detailed commentaries.

When in a more receptive and intuitive mood, however, a mood in which the busy-ness of the rational intellect is stilled and the deeper levels of mind are open to more subtle influences, our needs become different. At such times we will perhaps benefit more from a stripped-down version of the Tao Te Ching, one that allows the text to advance directly and make contact with our sensibility without the distractions of notes and commentaries and suchlike.

Although it was first published in 1973, the fact that the edition of Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English has never been out-of-print suggests that it is an edition that has been working for many people, one that satisfies perfectly one side of our nature, the gentler and more receptive and aesthetic side, perhaps the wiser side.

Each Chapter of the Tao Te Ching is given on two large quarto-sized pages which hold the English translation, the brushed Chinese text, and the black-and-white photographs. The white pages also hold large areas of blank space, an 'Emptiness' or 'Openness' in which, as others have noted, the black texts and pictures are allowed room in which to breathe and be themselves.

The English translation is simple, pure, spare. Here is a brief example from Chapter 48, with my slash marks indicating line breaks in the original:

"In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired. / In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped. // Less and less is done / Until non-action is achieved. / When nothing is done, nothing is left undone."

The translation has been recommended by no less an authority than Alan Watts, himself competent in Chinese, who commented: "No one has done better in conveying Lao Tsu's simple and laconic style of writing."

The calligraphy is exceptional. It is brushed lightly and with sensitive though vigorous strokes in a range of styles whose size and weight harmonize perfectly with both text and pictures. Also noteworthy is that, in most cases, legibility has not been sacrificed to beauty for the structure of even complex characters can be readily discerned.

Even those who may not know Chinese will be subtly influenced by it, for all Chinese ideograms are characterized by an exquisite balance, and an economy and beauty which are precisely the qualities we find in Lao Tsu's text. The calligraphy floats on the page like clouds floating through a Chinese sky, and establishes a perfect mood.

The ability to appreciate Chinese calligraphy, though uncommon in the West, is not difficult to come by since all it involves is learning to open our eyes. A little application will quickly lead anyone to see that it is the world's supreme art form, a highly abstract, dynamic, and endlessly fascinating art form, and to understand what Lin Yutang meant when he said that "in the realms of art, [China] soared where others merely made an effort to flap their wings."

The spareness and beauty of both text and calligraphy are perfectly reinforced by the striking though unpretentious black-and-white photographs which are given on each page, photographs of such things as a branch poaking through the surface of a lake, a foot, a bird perched on a stump, a house on a rocky outcrop, snow heaped up on a leaf, a gull in flight, a rainstorm, a seashell, a burning candle.

These are the important things, seemingly simple though of infinite value as are the fundamental truths embodied in the lines of Lao Tsu.

Very close to the thought of Lao Tsu's Chapter 48 is an observation made by the great Japanese Zen Master, Dogen (+ 1200-1253):

"Conveying the self to the myriad beings to authenticate them is delusion; the myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment" (Tr. F. H. Cook).

Life offers only two choices. We can reach out aggressively to grab. Or we can open up a space in ourselves and allow the myriad things of the universe to come forward and disclose themselves.

It's easy to see what Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English were trying to do in this book. It's also easy to see that they succeeded brilliantly.

By the way, not that it will matter to most but the calligraphy of Chapter 67 has been printed in reverse and what we see on the page is a mirror-image of the original...

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars clean tao, April 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Tao Te Ching (Paperback)

This is the translation of The Tao that woke me up, made sense to me in a way no other translation had. It doesn't have the "wrought" feeling that most poetic translations have. I didn't feel the translator behind the words, and I could picture The Old Guy, sitting on his hill, writing this down.

Moreover, the introduction by Needleman, missing in the 25-year edition , is stunning, particularly in his explanation of "virtue" as a verb, an act rather than an ideal. I'd trade the photos, however beautiful, for this introduction.