From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tao Te Ching
(
Chinese
:
道德經
[
Listen
(
help
·
info
)
]) is the
Chinese
name of a book by a man named
Laozi
(or Lao Tzu, which literally means "old master"). Laozi was a
sage
(a wise man) and he was a record-keeper. The title can mean "The Book of the Way and its Virtue." People believe the book was written around
600 BC
.
It is an important
text
to Chinese
culture
. It is very important in Chinese
philosophy
(way of thinking) and
religion
. It is the main book for
Taoism
, which is both a philosophy and part of Chinese folk religion. It also influenced other philosophies in and around China.
There are many ways to translate the book's title, because each Chinese word has a few meanings:
- Dao/Tao 道 means "way", "road", "path", or "route," but was given the extra meaning "path ahead", "way forward", "method", "principle", or simply "the Way". This word was also used in different ways by other Chinese philosophers (including Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, and Hanfeizi). It has special meaning in Taoism, where it means the basic way of the universe (that can not really be explained).
- De/Te 德 means "virtue" as in "personal character" or "inner strength". People who followed the teachings of
Confucius
used it to mean "morality". A long time ago in English, "virtue" could mean "power" (as in the phrase "healing virtue of a drug"). The same thing was true in Chinese: the word meant "power" a long time ago but now means "virtue".
- J?ng/Ching 經 originally meant "norm", "rule", or "plan", was given the extra meaning "scripture", "great book", or "classic".
The three words together gives the meaning "Virtue Way Rules".
The book is constructed of a series of poems, each containing a rule, way or belief to becoming successful.
The Tao Te Ching is a short book of about 5,000 Chinese characters. It has 81 short chapters. It has two parts: Part One is the Tao Ching (道經) "Way Rules", which is chapters 1?37; Part Two is the Te Ching (德經) "Virtue Rules", which is chapters 38?81.
The Tao Te Ching is one of the most translated books in history, alongside the
Bible
and the
Quran
. Why are there thousands of translations? The text is short, the meaning is difficult. There are many interpretations, or ways to understand what the book says.
- 老子 L?oz? 道德經 Daodej?ng verbatim + analogous + poetic;
deep analysis:
Chinese + English + German
- Tao Te Ching
, James Legge
- Tao Te Ching
, John H. McDonald
- Tao Te Ching
Archived
2016-10-14 at the
Wayback Machine
, Stephen Mitchell
- Daode jing
Archived
2007-03-13 at the
Wayback Machine
, Charles Muller
- Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching Online
[
permanent dead link
]
, Elyxr
- Tao Te Ching
Archived
2006-10-22 at the
Wayback Machine
, Stan Rosenthal
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
, 3 translations: James Legge, D.T. Suzuki, and Dwight Goddard
- Dao De Jing (Way Power Book) by Lao-zi
, Sanderson Beck
- Tao Te Ching ? The Way of Life
, Raymond B. Blakney
- The Daode Jing (Tao Te Ching) of Laozi (Lao Tzu)
Archived
2006-10-14 at the
Wayback Machine
, Chad Hansen
- The Dynamic Tao and Its Manifestation
. Wayne L. Wang
- The Tao Te Ching
, Frederic H. Balfour
- The Tao Te Ching
, Ron Hogan (in several formats, including
iPod
Archived
2007-09-28 at the
Wayback Machine
)
- The Tao Te Ching
, Lin Yutang
- The Tao Te Ching
Archived
2007-06-14 at the
Wayback Machine
, Stan Rosenthal
- Tao Te Ching audio edition
Archived
2006-11-04 at the
Wayback Machine
, narrated by Michael Scott
- The Tao Teh King
,
Aleister Crowley
- Jade Purity: Dao De Jing
Archived
2006-11-03 at the
Wayback Machine
, Siji Tzu (far from a word-for-word translation)
- Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse
Archived
2006-02-07 at the
Wayback Machine
28 Chinese versions (Wang Bi, Heshang Gong, Fu Yi, Mawang Dui, Guodian), translations in 24 languages (84 in English), including side-by-side comparison of two or four translations, Lao Zi Projekt
- 老子 L?oz? - 道 德 經 Daodej?ng
Archived
2012-12-31 at the
Wayback Machine
Romanian Version, Serban TOADER PhD, PDF black and white and colour
- 老子 L?oz? - 道 德 經 Daodej?ng
Chinese-English-German, Hilmar KLAUS, The Tao of Wisdom. verbatim + analogous + poetic, 2009, 600 p.
- Dao De Jing
, comparison of Chinese versions (Pinyin, Wang Bi, Heshang Gong, and Mawangdui), Nina Correa
- Laozi Daodejing
Archived
2006-10-18 at the
Wayback Machine
, English and German translations, Chinese in seal script
- The Tao by Lao-tse
, Rick Harbaugh
- The Way and Its Power - Dao De Jing
Chinese, English (Waley, Lau), French (Julien), and German (Wilhelm), Association Francaise des Professeurs de Chinois