Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Lao Tsu's "Tao Te Ching"

Tim Chilcott wrote to me yesterday about his new translation:

"I'm pleased to say that a new translation of one of the central texts in world religion and philosophy is now on-line, and can be read at http://www.tclt.org.uk/. The work is Laozi's Daode jing (or, as it still often transliterated, Lao Tzu's Tao te Ching). Whether interpreted as a book of religious teachings, or a political or sociological treatise, or a personal philosophical guide, the Chinese text has been translated more often than any book apart from the Bible; and this new version develops the experiment in translation that was initiated in 2004 with Matsuo's Basho's Oku no hosomichi [The Narrow Road to the Far North].

The presentation of the material follows the pattern of previous translations on the site: an Introduction that explores some of the special issues raised in translating the Daode jing, a Chronology of possible composition and promulgation, a Note on the Transliteration of Chinese characters, the Text itself (with original characters and pinyin romanisation on verso pages, and the translation on facing recto pages), and a section pointing to Further Reading and Internet Links. As ever, any comments you may have, whether critical or commendatory, will be appreciated."

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