Tao Te Ching: A New English Version

ANNOTATION

The most accessible and authoritative English translation of the ancient Chinese classic. Offers the essence of each word and makes Lao Tzu's teaching alive.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is not only the single most important text in Chinese spirituality, it is probably the most influential spiritual text in human history. In the past, virtually all translations of this text have been produced either by sinologists having little poetic facility in English, or writers having no ability to read the original Chinese. David Hinton's fluency in ancient Chinese and his award-winning poetic ability provide both of these essential qualifications. Together, they allow a breathtaking new translation that reveals how remarkably current and even innovative this text is after 2500 years.

Having masterfully translated a wide range of ancient Chinese poets and philosophers, Hinton is uniquely qualified to offer the definitive contemporary version of the Tao Te Ching in English, rendering it with both philosophical rigor and poetic elegance. And like all of his translations, Hinton's translation of the Tao Te Ching is mind-opening. It adds startling new dimensions to this text, revealing it as the originary text of deep environmental and feminist thought.

This volume is the last in a series of translations presenting the four central masterworks of ancient Chinese thought: Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, The Analects, and Mencius. This is the first time in well over a century that these four masterworks have been translated as a unified series by a single translator. Hinton makes these books sing in English as never before. But these new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable, they also apply much-needed consistency to key terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor heretofore unavailable in English. Breathing new life into these originary classics, Hinton's new translations will stand as the definitive texts for our era.

SYNOPSIS

The Tao Te Ching is an ancient Chinese collection of spiritual teachings, folk wisdom, cosmology, anti-Confucian doctrine, and mystical insights written between the seventh and second centuries BCE and attributed to Lao Tzu. This volume includes both a comprehensive verbatim translation of the text as well as Star's (affiliation not cited) own literary translation. The verbatim translation is intended to give the reader access to a complete range of possible interpretations.

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

New Republic

Beautiful and accessible; the English, as 'fluid as melting ice,' is a joy to read throughout.

Common Boundary

Mitchell's great talent is to communicate with the profound simplicity utterly appropriate for this task. The obscure has been made transparent and available.

Huston Smith

Stephen Mitchell's rendition fo the Tao Te Ching comes as close to being definitive for our time as any I can imagine. It embodies the virtues its translator credits to the Chinese original: a gemlike lucidity that is radiant with humor, grace, largeheartedness, and deep wisdom.

New Republic

Beautiful and accessible; the English, as 'fluid as melting ice,' is a joy to read throughout.

Common Boundary

Mitchell's great talent is to communicate with the profound simplicity utterly appropriate for this task. The obscure has been made transparent and available. Read all 9 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"I read the Stephen Mitchell translation of the Tao Te Ching in one sitting, three times. It is stunning, so lovely. It is a treasure."  — Harper Collins - New Media

"Embodies the virtues its translator credits to the original: a gemlike lucidity that is radiant with humor, grace, largeheartedness, and deep wisdom."  — Harper Collins - New Media

No one can understand Chinese philosophy, religion, art or social ethics without reading the Te-Tao Ching. We welcome, therefore, the translation of the recently discovered, the earliest, the most authentic texts. — The Reader's Catalog

Embodies the virtues its translator credits to the original: a gemlike lucidity that is radiant with humor, grace, largeheartedness, and deep wisdom. -- Author of The Religions of Man — Huston Smith