A Taoist Classic: The Book of Lao Zi [Hardcover]

Ren Jiyu (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 7119015710 | ISBN-13: 978-7119015712 | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

The Taoist Classic, the Book of Lao Zi also known as Dao De Jing (The Way and Its Virtue), is said to have been written by Lao Zi in the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.). The book contains a wealth of dialectic thinking. It interprets the changes of all things in the universe with its Tao (the Way). It advocates contentment with the existing status quo and holding few desires and 'a return of human society to the primeval state characterized by a small nation and a sparse population. The philosophy propounded in The Book of Lao Zi occupies an important position in the history of Chinese thought, for it has influenced Chinese philosophers of the succeeding periods to varying degrees. Since the Han Dynasty, well over a thousand scholars have made annotations to the work, which is very unusual for ancient Chinese books. The book consists of eighty-one chapters, each of which is preceded by a synopsis of its content, and an index of themes.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

About the Author

Ren Jiyu (born 1916)

A graduate of the Beijing University Philosophy Department Liberal Arts Research Institute, Ren Jiyu has served as a professor at Beijing University, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences World Religions Research Institute and as a teacher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Graduate School over the course of a long and distinguished career. For decades absorbed in the study of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, Ren is the author of a number of works on Chinese philosophy and religion including The History of Chinese Philosophy (in 4 volumes) and Collected Essays on Chinese Buddhism, and the chief editor of The History of Chinese Taoism, The History of Chinese Buddhism (in 8 volumes), A History of the Development of Chinese Philosophy (in 7 volumes), A Dictionary of Religion and Zhong Hua Da Zang Jing: The Complete Buddhist Canon (Chinese edition, 45 volumes published out of a planned 200-volume set).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 103 pages
• Publisher: Foreign Languages Pr (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 7119015710
• ISBN-13: 978-7119015712
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,360,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mediocre treatment of this classic piece of world thought, November 17, 2001

By 

Oran Magal "philosophy grad student" (Tel Aviv, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Taoist Classic: The Book of Lao Zi (Hardcover)

As a student (among other things) of Chinese philosophy, I came across this translation/exegesis looking for a decent English translation. The translation itself is reasonable and accurate. If you read only this, you'll do fine. However, the explanations and introductory parts are very shallow and uninteresting (not to mention seriously lacking). If meant as a book for the general public, it does Lao Zi discredit. If meant as an academic publication, its treatment of the material is mediocre and unhelpful. My recommendation: find a copy without interpretation and figure it out yourself. It's beautiful and is meant to be understood intuitively to begin with! But the book itself (not this version) _is_ a must-read.

4.0 out of 5 stars quite a book! this version is both strong and weak, March 11, 2001

By 

Daniel Mackler (on the road) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Taoist Classic: The Book of Lao Zi (Hardcover)

this was the first version of the tao te ching i came across, and i bought it in china in 1994. it took me a while to make any sense of what lao zi was saying, and now i think it makes a little more sense to me... since then, i've gotten other translations of this book and have something to compare it to.

i've kept this version because i felt it was a pretty raw translation, and not overly interpretive or flowery, which can be good. i feel, however, that the English of the author was not too hot and at times comes across as painfully wooden. the poems themselves, however, retain their beauty and power, and sometimes i wonder if the poor English of the author might not be an advantage...

as for the author's explanatory writings about the poems, my lord, it's not even worth reading. it's like he's written a bad mini-book report on each poem, and when tries to make sense of what the poems are about, he doesn't convince me that he gets the point of it at all. i'd hate to sit in a classroom with him! and i have a distinct feeling lao zi would also!