It is a very interesting and surprisingly clear version of the Taoist classic - worth reading also for those who have no interest in the occult. The English occultist Aleister Crowley made his own version of the Tao Te Ching in 1923. It is a splendid version, surpassing many of later dates - although the recent archaeological findings of Tao Te Ching manuscripts in Ma Wang Tui and Guodian were unknown to him. The vagueness of the original text allows for very different interpretations, as you can see in the collection of translations.Ĭlick the header to have a look at the translation of the Tao Te Ching made by the Scottish sinologist James Legge back in 1891. I found 75, from well-renowned sinologists to happy amateurs.

In 2004, I vacuumed the internet and my own library for versions of Tao Te Ching's first chapter. Here are some of those quotes, and what gives away that they are fake.Īlready by the first chapter of Tao Te Ching, the style of its interpretor or translator is quite clear. There are lots of Lao Tzu quotes on the Internet. There are doubts that this one man wrote it all, or that he ever existed, but here's the little we know about him from historical sources. Lao Tzu is the legendary writer of the Tao Te Ching. The old Taoist philosophy classic still has a lot to teach us. Here is my complete translation of it, where I explain each chapter from a perspective also relevant in our modern life. The major source to Taoist philosophy is the Tao Te Ching (also spelled Dao De Jing), written by the legendary Lao Tzu (Lao Zi) - somewhere between the 6th and the 4th century BC in China. Click the image to see the book at Amazon (paid link). The great Taoist philosophy classic by Lao Tzu translated, and each of the 81 chapters extensively commented.

Tao Te Ching The Taoism of Lao Tzu Explained. Taoism is all about here and now: the philosophy of how to live a pleasant life, without causing unnecessary commotion or distress. To the Taoists, gods and the afterlife are vague, almost non-existent.

Lao zi tao te ching