Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching, also commonly known as Lao Tzu, is one of the most important Chinese classics and has had great influence on Chinese thought. It is regarded as the bible of Taoism and is by far the most frequently translated Chinese classic, with over thirty translations into English alone.

Deftly introduced and enriched by the remarkable ink paintings of Stephen Addiss, this new translation of Tao Te Ching captures the terse and enigmatic beauty of the ancient original while resisting the tendency toward interpretive paraphrase found in many other editions. Along with the translation of the complete work, Lombardo and Addiss provide the reader with a measure of interaction with the Chinese text found in no other edition, by furnishing one or more key lines from the original Chinese for each of the eighty-one sections, together with a transliteration of the Chinese characters. The appearance and sounds of the Chinese character displayed, enhance the reader's appreciation of how the Chinese text works and feels and the many different ways it can be translated into English.

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas.