Tao Te Ching [Paperback]

Lao-Tzu (Author), Stephen Addiss (Author), Stanley Lombardo (Author), Burton Watson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0872202321 | ISBN-13: 978-0872202320 | Publication Date: October 1, 1993 | Edition: copyright 1993

Deftly introduced and enriched by the remarkable ink paintings of Stephen Addiss, this new translation of Tao Te Ching captures the terse and enigmatic beauty of the ancient original while resisting the tendency toward interpretive paraphrase found in many other editions. Along with the translation of the complete work, Lombardo and Addiss provide the reader with a measure of interaction with the Chinese text found in no other edition, by furnishing one or more key lines from the original Chinese for each of the eighty-one sections, together with a transliteration of the Chinese characters. The appearance and sounds of the Chinese character displayed, enhance the reader's appreciation of how the Chinese text works and feels and the many different ways it can be translated into English.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With this edition of the Tao Te Ching, an unlikely team of a Japanese art expert and a Greek translator pull off a uniquely powerful version of the text. If one thing marks the language of the original Tao Te Ching, it is linguistic spareness. Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo are the first to succeed in duplicating the language in English, and although their search for just the right word occasionally goes far afield, they are mostly successful. The effect can be quite liberating as the full ambiguity of meaning comes through and you are afforded the freedom to interpret in a variety of ways. The translators also enhance the atmosphere of the book with Addiss's expressive calligraphy and the two lines in the original Chinese that are retained in each chapter. Addiss and Lombardo's rendering of the Tao Te Ching gets you right down into the primary source, and from there you're free to wander where you will.

About the Author

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 106 pages
• Publisher: Hackett Publishers; copyright 1993 edition (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872202321
• ISBN-13: 978-0872202320
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Eastern > Taoism
  • #2 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Eastern Religions > Taoism
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Philosophy > Eastern > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Things DO Come In Small Packages!, September 28, 2005

By 

Albion Guppy "Cloudy Mountain" (Northern Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tao Te Ching (Paperback)

This is the second best translation of the Tao Te Ching that I have ever read,
followed only by Red Pine's 'Lao-tzu's Taoteching'.

Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo have done an exceptional job in translating
this small volume.

There is also a really fine Introduction here by Burton Watson, proving once
again, that great things can sometimes come in small packages.

There is also a glossary of all the Chinese words used in this translation of
the Tao Te Ching in the back, and a Translator's Preface in the front of this
awesome translation of the Tao Te Ching, as well.

Also, the reader will be delighted to find lovely Chinese calligraphy scattered
throughout this small volume, which I believe is known as "the grass stroke".

This put me in mind of the Chinese calligraphy found in Alan Watts book;
'Tao, The Watercourse Way', it's not only lovely for the eye to look at, but
intriguing to the mind, as well.

We currently have 23 different printed versions of the Tao Te Ching (and I have
read many other translations of the Tao Te Ching on the internet as well), and I can honestly
say that you will not go wrong in purchasing this translation.

We purchased this translation of the Tao Te Ching based on only one reader's review,
here at Amazon.com

I don't know why this little edition of the TTC has not become more wide spread among
Daoist's, since it's been around since 1993.

But if you find Red Pine's translation of the TTC well done, you'll love this
translation as well.

Do yourself a long lasting favor, buy this book!

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The flavor of ancient Tao, August 10, 2000

By 

Michael P. McGarry (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tao Te Ching (Paperback)

The *Tao Te Ching*, the central Taoist scripture, is a terse text in the original ancient Mandarin, but its subtle implications and ambiguities lend it to verbose translations in English. This wonderful translation is faithful to the brevity and concision of the original. In each chapter, the translators have selected one crucial line to represent in the original Chinese characters down the side of the page. That in and of itself would be no more than quaint decoration for those of us who don't read classical Mandarin; however, they also transliterate that line and place it side by side with the English translation in the text. Furthermore, the end of the book contains a glossary of all these Chinese characters, showing the various meanings of each one. For example, at the beginning of chapter 15, we find: "The ancients who followed TAO:/ Dark, wondrous, profound, penetrating, / *Wei*, *miao*, *hsüan*, *t'ung*." Those four Chinese characters are drawn on the side of the page. Alternate meaning are given in the glossary: for example, *wei* can mean "small, obscure, subtle, dark". Rather than translate those four characters into a flowery sentence in an attempt to capture all the subtleties in English, these translators empower the reader to do that work. This book is a wonderful translation for anyone who wants to do the work of really understanding what this profound and insightful text has to say.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes a great second copy of the Tao Te Ching, March 20, 2003

By 

Science Fiction Girl "scifictgirl" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tao Te Ching (Paperback)

I wouldn't recommend this book as your first translation of the Tao Te Ching, hence the 4 stars, but I absolutely would recommend it as a second copy if you finish reading a translation and are craving more Tao, more depth.

The authors do an excellent job of describing their approach to this translation - a more literal and less interpretive approach than most. It allows someone familiar with the Tao Te Ching a more flexible look at what Lao Tzu had to say. A glossary includes the direct translation of several of the characters, and the authors have left in one line of the original Chinese characters in each section.

Because the translation is so literal, the intrinsic underlying points of the Tao Te Ching seem more obscured to me, rather than less, and if I did not already have some history with the Tao Te Ching, I would lose interest in this before I found my way through this book.