Customer Reviews

Tao Te Ching

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I know two things: 1) There is no such thing as a perfect translation of the Tao Te Ching. The Chinese language is so completely different from English, that any translation of the Tao is going to be somewhat flawed, no matter how skillful the translator. 2) All serious spiritual seekers must read the Tao Te Ching. If possible, they should own at least three translations.

This translation is excellent and is a personal favorite of mine. I give it "five stars" for integrity. Addiss and Lombardo explain, in their four page Introduction, the philosophy of how they translated the text and why it might be different from previous English translations. Indeed, they begin the Introduction as follows "There are already more than one hundred translations of the Tao Te Ching into English. Why should this text be translated again?" Then they proceed with a very persuasive case for this translation. For example, they have tried to "recreate much of the terse diction and staccato rhythm of the ancient Chinese" while other translations tend to be verbose. Also, they have specifically avoided any use of the gender specific pronouns, "he" and "she." Thus rendering the text neither politically correct nor politically incorrect.

Beyond the translation itself, this book is beautifully designed, with extensive use of Chinese calligraphy, art, and characters. This almost gives the impression of having an original copy of the Tao Te Ching in your hand.

If you want to read the Tao Te Ching, this is a great version. Three other good translations include those by Victor Mair, D.C. Lau, and John C. H. Wu. Personally I do not like the popular version by Stephen Mitchell, or the Gia-fu Feng & Jane English translation. They try too hard to be modern -- but who can fault them for trying? Just don't take them as the last word. But I do like another, very quirky, modern English version by Witter Bynner, which is rendered as rhyming poetry. So there is a lot of Tao variety out there.

Personally, I will never be without this Addiss/Lombardo version, or Victor Mair, or John Wu. Between these three, I can usually get a good feel for the original.

You may not realize it, but most "translations" of the Tao Te Ching are not translations at all, but people's interpretations of what they think Lao Tze meant. As time goes on, the interpretations seem to get more and more involved; often replacing one, consise line from Lao Tze with a whole paragraph of their own ideas. If you want to know what Lao Tze actually said, and decide for yourself what he meant, this true translation is a must!