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Tao Te Ching | 
 enlarge | Authors: Lao Tzu, Stephen Mitchell
Category: Book
Buy New: $97.81
New (3) Used (6) from $15.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  176 reviews
Sales Rank: 577559
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Audio Cassette
Number Of Items: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.3 x 0.8
ASIN: B000AI4JGI
Publication Date: March 1, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching looks at the basic predicament of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love; to child rearing, business, and ecology. Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.
Download Description
Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching looks at the basic predicament of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love; to child rearing, business, and ecology. Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 171 more reviews...
 Tao Te Ching July 20, 2008
If you buy this book and accept the knowlege bestowed upon you, it will transform you life forever.
 Warhead? July 16, 2008
The word warhead appears in this text. When I read it, I became suspicious of the entire book and the reading became unpleasant as a result. After reading reviews, my worst fear was affirmed: this is not the Tao Te Ching. This is more of a paraphrase of various translation with the author's own language thrown in.
I know that the Tao cannot be conveyed through words. It is better to say that the Tao Te Ching describes around it, like hands attempting to contain a ball, concealing it so that it cannot be seen while hinting at its shape and size. The ball is there, but the hands conceal it. Lift the hands and the ball shall be seen! It is not there, but it is. This book is like a pair of hands, but they are dirty. They have been sneezed in. It is impolite to offer one's hand to shake when it has been sneezed in!
Great living literature opens you up...this is one of those. July 13, 2008
This book has true value...unlike most books the Tao Te Ching can help you find meaning and truth in life.
 More Interpretation/Commentary than Translation July 6, 2008
I bought this book on a whim at a local bookstore. When I started reading it, something seemed a little off with the text. I started checking it against other versions online, and the phrasing and wording is way different from the majority of translations.
As someone who has knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, I know how tall an order it is to translate an ancient language faithfully, especially one where context is so key. I appreciate Mitchell's efforts and feel that this is an interesting book, but I felt a bit deceived by its label. To me, anyway, "A New English Version" suggested it was a translation, but that's not the case. It's _based_ on the Tao Te Ching and has some great insights in the form of his interpretation, but it's not a translation. This would be a great book to get after you already have two other translations of the Tao Te Ching, just to give a different perspective and make you think.
I don't yet have another version of the Tao Te Ching, so I returned this today. I'm checking out translations recommended by some of the other reviewers, and hopefully will find something that's poetic, yet faithful to the original tone and has lots of footnotes to mention alternative translations.
Buyer Beware! June 7, 2008
I wish I had known that this wasn't a translation before buying. The author basically uses other people's translations and inserts is own perceptions to replace the wording in many of the verses. I was looking to purchase the Tao Te Ching not Mitchell's philosophy based on the Tao Te Ching. I actually bought the audio and stopped on verse 46. It was this verse that really stood out:
Mitchell's version 46:
When a country is in harmony with the Dao
The factories make trucks and tractors
When a country goes counter to the Dao
Warheads are stockpiled outside the cities
There is no greater illusion than fear
No greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself
No greater misfortune than having an enemy
Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.
It is obvious from the above that the author took license with the original (because Lao Tzu would not have mentioned trucks, tractors, warheads, etc), but what is worse, if you review other translations, he obviously inserted his own pacifistic thinking into the version which changed the whole meaning (no greater wrong than trying to defend yourself for example). To illustrate, see the translation from Jonathan Star's book:
When Tao is present in the empire
men follow their own nature and riding horses work the fields
When Tao is absent from the empire
men go astray and war horses breed on sacred ground
There is no greater loss than losing Tao
No greater curse than desire
No greater tragedy than discontentment
No greater fault than selfishness
Contentment alone is enough
Indeed, the bliss of eternity can be found in your contentment
Jonathan Star's translation is more literal (in his book he provides the actual Chinese so you can check his translation). Mitchell's "version" is basically Tao Te Ching with Mitchell's own world view intermixed to the point that it changes the meaning of what is being said. He does this throughout his book.
Like I said in the title, Buyer Beware
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