Book Description

The “Daodejing” (“Tao Te Ching”) was originally compiled over 2500 years ago in what is now northwestern central China. This new translation of Laozi's “Daodejing” attempts to present a fairly literal rendering of the short, ancient Classical Chinese text. The version of the “Daodejing” used here is the standard “received” text included in the young scholar Wang Bi's third century commentary. The entire Classical Chinese text is presented line by line, from right to left, on pages facing the lines of English translation. This translation differs from the dozens of previous translations (and hundreds of adaptations) of the “Daodejing” in that it doesn't project later cultural or religious beliefs back onto the text. It doesn't omit or add words in order to ignore or explain away those portions of the text that don't reflect a modern, enlightened worldview. Instead, footnotes are provided where necessary to explain how the book's 81 poems reflect the ancient customs and religious practices of Ancient China during what is known as the Warring States Period.All of the book's poems are concerned with the mystical life force Laozi calls the “Way” or a related, resonating personal force he calls “Virtue.” The poems have an intimate, knowing tone to them and touch on many of the concerns of Laozi's day. There are myriad universal deities to be honored and spirits in nature to be considered. There are the friendly spirits of ancestors to be cared for and the unfriendly ghosts of ancestors to be avoided. There are farmers, craftsman, soldiers, and aristocrats to be dealt with, and robbers, madmen, and itinerant philosophers to be on the alert for. There are treaties to be made and battles to be fought. Laozi good-naturedly instructs the reader on how the Way gives rise to Heaven, Earth, mankind, and the “ten thousand things.” Through the poems, he attempts to describe the indescribable: the Way's mysterious action-without-action and its effect on those who trust in it enough to let it guide their lives.