Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts (Classics of Ancient China) - Softcover

Lao Tzu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345370996 ISBN 13: 9780345370990

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1992

Synopsis

Lao-tzu’s Te-Tao Ching has been treasured for thousands of years for its poetic statement of life’s most profound and elusive truths. Although the Te-Tao Ching is widely read, the author’s enigmatic style and the less than perfect condition of the Chinese originals make many of its brief poems difficult to understand. So readers of find literature hailed the discovery, in 1973, of two copies of the Te-Tao Ching which had been buried in 168 B.C.

These manuscripts are more than five centuries older than any others known, and they correct many defects of later versions: their grammar and vocabulary frequently make the classic easier to understand; lost lines are restored (as many as three in some poems); some sections follow a more logical sequence.

Such differences make it necessary to reevaluate traditional interpretations of the Te-Tao Ching, and Professor Henricks has done this in an extensive commentary to his excellent new translation. In addition, Professor Henricks has provided an introduction that explains the basics of Taoism and discusses the many other important finds from Ma-want-tui.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Lao-tzu's "Te-Tao Ching" has been treasured for thousands of years for its poetic statement of life's most profound and elusive truths. This new translation, based on the 1973 discovery of two copies of the manuscript more than five centuries older than any others known, corrects many defects of the later versions. In his extensive commentary, Professor Henricks reevaluates traditional interpretations.

About the Author:

Robert G. Henricks is professor emeritus of religion at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. One of the most acclaimed authorities on classic Asian literature today, he has translated the highly regarded Lao-Tzu: Te-Tao Ching and is the author of other books, including Philosophy and Argumentation in Third-Century China and The Poetry of Han-Shan.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0345370996
• ISBN 13: 9780345370990
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320