Customer Reviews

The Way of Life, According to Laotzu

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While perhaps not the most scholarly accurate translation, this is far and away (IMHO) the best for daily reading and meditation. Bynner's foreward notes that the Chinese sparkles with rhythm and rhyme -- not a surprise, since most people could not read at the time and had to remember things verbatim. Language has power because of rhyme and rhythm as well as the meaning of the words, and thus Bynner's translation is the best one to have in your pocket at the beach, sitting on the porch with a beer or glass of wine, or reading to (or with) someone you love. I have spent 30 years repeating "Let life ripen and then fall, force is not the way at all, deny the way of life and you are dead." I have and sometimes read other versions (Chinese cannot really be translated to English), but this is the one I read for pleasure.

I own about a half-dozen versions of the Tao Te Ching, ranging from the scholarly to the poetic, and Bynner's version strikes me as head and shoulders above the rest.

"He who knows does not say, and he who says does not know." Bynner avoids the lecture trap and captures the spirit of the original in a gentle way that speaks subtly to the reader and lingers in the heart.

If I had only one book to read and re-read, this would be it. Far and away my favorite translation of the book that is part of my blood and bone. I've memorized much of it, and have read it aloud onto CD as a gift for my friends. A treasure. "Let life ripen and then fall. Force is not the way at all."

Bynner didn't speak Chinese, yet, strangely, his version is one of the best. As a poet, Bynner sees through the "scholarly poo poo" of some translations and gives us what appears to be an effortlessly simple adaptation. I carry this version everywhere. When I am a little uncertain about the hysteria of life, I pop it open to a random page and read. Bynners version is a whole new book every time. And please forgive a couple of attempts at rhyme. The guy, like Lao Tzu himself, can bring worlds of knowledge into only a few words.

While the same wisdom has been expressed by many others,from Einstein to Jesus, this translation by Witter Bynner appears to me to describe, in the most concise manner possible, the nature of existence.

It provides about everything one could know, and tells us about that which is beyond knowing.

I would like to suggest that the book be required reading for all. I am tempted to add that there should be no other required reading.

Here is the classic of Chinese thought, the Tao Te Ching, containing among the oldest Chinese known, beautifully rendered into modern English. Having read numerous translations of this ancient work (lacking time to learn Chinese!), I had found them all to be difficult or ambiguous in some sections. Not so in this breath-taking work by an American, with the assistence of a noted Chinese Taoist scholar. In my opinion, this straight forward attempt to re-create the original thought and poetry inherant in the original is not only a success, but a poetic masterpiece in its own right.

This version of the Tao Te Ching is the most poetic and fun to read of any in English. Bynner tries to achieve the same effect in English as the Chinese verses have for Chinese speakers. You find yourself remembering lines and entire verses easily and permanently. This version gets into you and speaks to Western sensibilities.

In simplicity and directness, Wytter Bynner's English version of The Way of Life According to Lao Tzu rewards the reader with access to a timeless classic's encounter with the ever changing "standing wave pattern" of existence. The Tao is the vitalizing energy flowing endlessly through the universe. Apprehended fleetingly through an attentive and awakened human consciousness, Bynner's English language rendering welcomes us to experience existence more deeply than ordinary appearance. Of its 81 poetic chapters, one of my favorites is the briefest, drawing the eye and mind to explore its other offerings:

Knowledge studies others,
Wisdom is self-known.
Muscle masters brothers,
Self-mastery is bone;
Content need never borrow,
Ambition wanders blind;
Vitality cleaves to the marrow
Leaving death behind.

Although there are many renderings of the Way of Life in English as well as other languages, Bynner's version remains a favorite.The Way of Life, According to Laotzu

There's not much to be added to all the other positive reviews. This book never fails to calm and center me. It has been an old faithful friend for more years than I care to admit. To echo other reviewers, it is a poetic, lovely translation. It may not be scholarly, as it was not translated from the original Chinese, but it produces a stillness inside that I believe is the intent of Taoism. No other translation produces this inner peace.

Witter Bynner re-presents the (great and simple) truths of the TAO with great fidelity. You have the sense that Laotzu was a co-conspirator in this one which is more than can be said for some translations of this work. The irrefutable truths of the heart are presented here. Dont miss it