Tao Te Ching

by Lao Tzu, Richard John Lynn (Afterword), R. B. Blakney (Translator), R. B. Blakney (Introduction)

Overview

Tao Té Ching is ancient China’s great contribution to the literature of philosophy, religion, and mysticism.

Tao Té Ching contains the time-honored teachings of Taoism and brings a message of living simply, finding contentment with a minimum of comfort, and prizing culture above all else.

This is the lauded translation of the eighty-one poems constituting an Eastern classic, the mystical and moral teachings of which have profoundly influenced the sacred scriptures of many religions—and the lives and happiness of countless men and women through the centuries.

Translated and with an Introduction by R. B. Blakney and an Afterword by Richard John Lynn

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451530400
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/02/2007
Series:	Signet Classics Series
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.76(w) x 6.86(h) x 0.47(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The way of life defined in the Tao Te Ching was developed by ancient sages who lived in China some two thousand years ago. Lao Tzu, known as the Old One, was one such sage who practiced "the way," although there were almost certainly other religious thinkers who contributed further ideas and wisdom to it.

R. B. Blakney, past president of Olivet College, former missionary and teacher in China, and author of many volumes on Eastern religions, made this splendid translation of a great gem of Chinese religion and provided an illuminating interpretative commentary.

Richard John Lynn is Professor Emeritus of Chinese Thought and Literature, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada. His books include Chinese Literature: A Draft Bibliography in Western European Languages, Guide to Chinese Poetry and Drama, and The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi. He is the editor of James J. Y. Liu’s Language—Paradox—Poetics:  A Chinese Perspective.

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Excerpted from "Tao Te Ching"
by Lao Tzu.
Copyright © 2010 Lao Tzu.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

	Introduction	vii
Book 13
Book 243
	List of Passages for Comparison	89
	Appendices
1	The Problem of Authorship	90
2	The Nature of the Work	104
	Chronological Table	115
	Glossary	116
	Notes	126

Editorial Reviews

"It would be hard to find a fresh approach to a text that ranks only behind the Bible as the most widely translated book in the world, but Star achieves that goal. . . . As fascinating to the casual scholar as it is for the serious student." -NAPRA ReView "Jonathan Star's Tao Te Ching achieves the essential: It clarifies the meaning of the text without in the slightest reducing its mystery." -Jacob Needleman

From the Publisher