The Classic of the Way and Virtue: A New Translation of the "Tao-te ching" of Laozi as Interpreted by Wang Bi - Hardcover

Lynn, Richard John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231105800 ISBN 13: 9780231105804

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1999

Synopsis

The essential Taoist book and one of a triad that make up the most influential religious and philosophical writings of Chinese tradition, the Tao-te Ching is the subject of hundreds of new interpretive studies each year. As Taoism emerges as one of the East Asian philosophies most interesting to Westerners, an accessible new edition of this great work―written for English-language readers, yet rendered with an eye toward Chinese understanding―has been much needed by scholars and general readers.

Richard John Lynn, whose recent translation of theI Ching was hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as "the best I Ching that has so far appeared," presents here another fine translation. Like his I Ching, this volume includes the interpretive commentary of the third-century scholar Wang Bi (226-249), who wrote the first and most sophisticated commentary on the Tao-te Ching.

Lynn's introduction explores the centrality of Wang's commentaries in Chinese thought, the position of the Tao-te Ching in East Asian tradition, Wang's short but brilliant life, and the era in which he lived. The text consists of eighty-one short, aphoristic sections presenting a complete view of how the sage rules in accordance with the spontaneous ways of the natural world. Although the Tao-te Ching was originally designed to provide advice to the ruler, the Chinese regard its teachings as living and self-cultivation tools applicable to anyone. Wang Bi's commentaries, following each statement, flesh out the text so that it speaks to the modern Western reader as it has to Asians for more than seventeen centuries.

About this title

Book Description:

At last, the most influential book of Taoist tradition is available in an edition that allows English-language readers to experience it the way Chinese readers have for centuries. Richard John Lynn's translation includes the essential commentary of the third-century scholar Wang Bi, whose interpretations of this classic helped to define it as a philosophy of life and one of the most significant works in the East Asian tradition. The text consists of eighty-one short, aphoristic sections presenting a complete view of how the sage rules in accordance with the spontaneous ways of the natural world.

About the Author:

Richard John Lynn is professor of Chinese thought and literature at the University of Toronto. He is the author or translator of five books, including The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi. (Columbia)

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0231105800
• ISBN 13: 9780231105804
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252