Quotations, sayings, audios, resources, writings and any discussion about the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
This blog will also host any relevant topics that can be connected to the wisdom of Lao Tzu’s famous teachings and books.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu as translated by J. Legge (Sacred Books of the East, Vol 39) [1891] James Legge was a Scottish sinologist, missionary, and scholar, best known as an early and prolific translator of Classical Chinese texts into English.
Personally, I find it the least attractive of the available translations. There are many more that I found which are more poetic and had a little more ‘soul’, if you like.
The Tao Te Ching has served as a foundation for centuries of philosophy and wisdom. Written more than 2,000 years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the classics of spiritual reading.
With regards spelling, I believe that any of the following are acceptable… dao, tao, de, teh, te, Lao Zi, Lao Tzu, Lao Tze, Dao De Jing, Tao Teh Ching, Tao Te King.
Click here or on the ebook’s cover to download your free Tao Te Ching ebook
According to tradition, the work originates around the fourth century BC. The oldest existing copy is from 206 or 195 BC. To know more background, I think you’ll enjoy the 5:29 min. video, above, which provides a great introduction.
Lao Tzu would have composed this work by the request of Yin Hsi, the Guardian of the Mountain Pass, while he began his wandering towards West.
It consists of 81 short chapters, among which 37 form the first part, the Book of the Way (tao). The next 44 form the Book of Te.
Its division in chapters is considered to be the result of the remarks of the mysterious Heschang Gong (Han dynasty), reputed author of one of the earliest commentaries on the Tao Te Ching.
I’ve used those chapter divisions to break up the audios that I have included below for the various sections. This way you can listen in parts, rather than the entire 1:34:53 length MP3. If you want it, you can download the complete full-length audio at the source link that I’ve provided, at the end of this post for you.
I will be back to add more content over time.
