The Eternal Tao Te Ching: The Philosophical Masterwork of Taoism and Its Relevance Today
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- Create Date：2022-03-26 08:51:59
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Benjamin Hoff
- ISBN：1419755501
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Summary
The bestselling author of The Tao of Pooh offers a uniquely authentic translation of the enduring Tao Te Ching， based on the meanings of the ancient Chinese characters in use when the Taoist classic was written。
From Benjamin Hoff， author of The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet， which have sold millions of copies worldwide， comes The Eternal Tao Te Ching， a new translation of the Chinese philosophical classic， the Tao Te Ching。
The Eternal Tao Te Ching is the first translation to employ the meanings of the pre-writing brush characters in use 2，400 years ago， when the classic was written， rather than relying on the often-different meanings of the more modern brush characters， as other translations have done。 Hoff points out in his chapter notes the many incidents of meddling and muddling that have been made over the centuries by scholars and copyists， and he corrects the mistakes and removes such tampering from the text。 Hoff also makes the provocative claim—and demonstrates by revealing clues in the text—that the Tao Te Ching’s author was a young nobleman hiding his identity， rather than the long-alleged author， the “Old Master” of legend， Lao-tzu。 And Hoff’s chapter notes shed new light on the author’s surprisingly modern viewpoint。 With a selection of lyrical color landscape photographs by the author， this is a unique， and uniquely accessible， presentation of the Tao Te Ching。
From Benjamin Hoff， author of The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet， which have sold millions of copies worldwide， comes The Eternal Tao Te Ching， a new translation of the Chinese philosophical classic， the Tao Te Ching。
The Eternal Tao Te Ching is the first translation to employ the meanings of the pre-writing brush characters in use 2，400 years ago， when the classic was written， rather than relying on the often-different meanings of the more modern brush characters， as other translations have done。 Hoff points out in his chapter notes the many incidents of meddling and muddling that have been made over the centuries by scholars and copyists， and he corrects the mistakes and removes such tampering from the text。 Hoff also makes the provocative claim—and demonstrates by revealing clues in the text—that the Tao Te Ching’s author was a young nobleman hiding his identity， rather than the long-alleged author， the “Old Master” of legend， Lao-tzu。 And Hoff’s chapter notes shed new light on the author’s surprisingly modern viewpoint。 With a selection of lyrical color landscape photographs by the author， this is a unique， and uniquely accessible， presentation of the Tao Te Ching。
Reviews
John Fredrickson
，
This book is beautifully bound and illustrated。 The first part of the book introduces the author's theories and approaches to the text， followed by his translations of the individual verses。 His commentary on the verses comprises the second half of the book。 I don't like this as a format， since it forces the reader to jump from each verse to a later part of the book for the verse's discussion。 As part of his introduction and commentary， Hoff tries to put the text into its cultural context， often This book is beautifully bound and illustrated。 The first part of the book introduces the author's theories and approaches to the text， followed by his translations of the individual verses。 His commentary on the verses comprises the second half of the book。 I don't like this as a format， since it forces the reader to jump from each verse to a later part of the book for the verse's discussion。 As part of his introduction and commentary， Hoff tries to put the text into its cultural context， often against Confucianism， and I found this line of thought to be very instructive。 He also puts forth the idea that the text we know as the Tao has been corrupted over time， with words mistakenly copied as well as verses added。 The commentary is very well written， and where Hoff gets philosophical about current society， I often found myself to be in strong accord with him。 In the commentaries， Hoff is very clear about where he diverges from "traditional" translations of the Tao， and it is evident that he has studied many of them。It is clear that Hoff has made a very serious effort to analyze the old Chinese lexicon in an effort to unearth the hidden meanings of the text of the Tao Te Ching。 This is a perilous task， since this is not a scientific or historical document with some obscure words in it - this is a highly allusive text with a lot of seemingly contradictory statements in it。 （One would not gain much knowledge of Whitman's Leaves of Grass by looking up the names and definitions of various grasses。） His reliance on individual words in this way opens him up to a risk of being way too literal。 As an example， I believe Hoff's literalness shows up clearly in his translation of verse 70 （My Words）， in which he he postulates that the Tao is Master Lao's diary， and that these are therefore 'his' words。 My own sense is that the 'me' being discussed in this verse is more likely the conflation of his （Master Lao's） own， ultimately unimportant， individual self with the all-important Tao （the Universal Self）， which is the jade that is worthy of cultivation and protection， though it remains hidden and indescribable。Since part of his theory is that the text is （likely） corrupted， Hoff feels at liberty to add and remove words as he deems necessary， and removes several verses as well， since he feels these are likely additions to the text by one or more unknown （and inferior） authors。 I struggled mightily with this， though Hoff is very honest and clear about what he is doing。 Unfortunately， when you couple this literal use of an analytical dictionary with a tendency to add and delete text， what you end up with is probably less a translation of the original Tao and more like Hoff's own Tao。 This is ironic as hell， since one of Hoff's objectives appears to be to make the Tao understandable and relevant by correcting the accretions of scribes and other interpreters。 。。。more
Nick
，
I collect versions of the Tao Te Ching because， not being able to read the original， I want to understand it as well as I can， like adding up all the views of the blind men and the elephant。 This version has a couple of nuances that seem illuminating， like the idea of 'valley energy，' or 'valley spirit，' as a nurturing， soft， long-lasting power in contrast with other universal powers。 I found it satisfying and a great addition to the body of work surrounding the Tao。 Recommended。 I collect versions of the Tao Te Ching because， not being able to read the original， I want to understand it as well as I can， like adding up all the views of the blind men and the elephant。 This version has a couple of nuances that seem illuminating， like the idea of 'valley energy，' or 'valley spirit，' as a nurturing， soft， long-lasting power in contrast with other universal powers。 I found it satisfying and a great addition to the body of work surrounding the Tao。 Recommended。 。。。more
Cheng
，
Always on the lookout for the best translation/explainer of Tao Te Ching; unfortunately， this one wasn't it。 In the author's long introduction， he tried to explain that he believed most other translations didn't stay true to the original text and people tend to editorialize translated text such that it changed the meaning of the original。 While that may be， but his approach wasn't much better because the strictly translated text was very hard to understand （often nonsensical） and nearly impossib Always on the lookout for the best translation/explainer of Tao Te Ching; unfortunately， this one wasn't it。 In the author's long introduction， he tried to explain that he believed most other translations didn't stay true to the original text and people tend to editorialize translated text such that it changed the meaning of the original。 While that may be， but his approach wasn't much better because the strictly translated text was very hard to understand （often nonsensical） and nearly impossible to internalize - as demonstrated by the fact that half the book （120+ pages） was dedicated to explaining his translations， which defeats the purpose of reading translated text。 Would not recommend。 。。。more
Val
，
This is a treasure of a book！ So well researched and beautifully presented。
John Wimmer
，
The eternal Tao Te Chi is a wounderful masterpiece to add to any bookshelf。 Besides quoting the remarkable wisdom contained in the ancient texts， this book by Hoff offer beautiful illustration。 The translated text into english is easy to understand and soothing to ones soul to read。 Well reccomended for people of all ages。
Concinnous
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