Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching: about 5,000 Chinese characters on how to live and lead lightly.
Three ways into a short old book
Start with water
Read chapter 8. The highest good is like water: it helps everything, claims nothing and settles in the low places people avoid.
Try wu wei
Wu wei means no forced action. It is doing what the moment needs without strain, and it does not mean lying idle.
Compare two versions
The Chinese is spare and open. Read one chapter in two translations and you will see how much each translator decides.
A thousand-mile trip begins beneath your feet.
Choosing a translation
Tao Te Ching
Hand-picked pieces are on the way.
Good to know
What is the Tao Te Ching about?
The Tao Te Ching is about living in step with the Tao, the way things naturally go. It favors softness, humility, few desires and rulers who interfere little.
Who wrote the Tao Te Ching?
Tradition credits Laozi, a court archivist said to have written it at a mountain pass before heading west. Most scholars think the text formed gradually, and his life cannot be confirmed.
What is the best translation of the Tao Te Ching?
There is no single best one. For accuracy try D.C. Lau or Philip Ivanhoe, for the oldest texts Robert Henricks, and for poetry Ursula K. Le Guin or Stephen Mitchell.
