li3wei1 440 Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 My dad is really getting into the 道德经 through English translations. He's asked me to find the most 'authentic' translation. I haven't studied much classical, so I don't have a clue. I've recommended the Gia-fu Feng/Jane English version (Vintage, 1972) that was my first (the beautiful bilingualness of which was a factor leading me into Chinese). I've also suggested to him that authenticity is not as important as what he gets out of it, so reading many different translations is probably a good approach. Anyway, I would appreciate any recommendations y'all have of English translations that are particularly good, or books explaining the work either in English or modern Mandarin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bad Cao Cao 32 Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Bradford Hatcher's "Laozi Daodejing, Word by Word". http://www.hermetica.info/#LaoziSkipDown Hatcher also gives an interesting "A" list of other translations in his bibliography: -Patrick Michael Byrne's : Laozi : Daodejing -Wing-Tsit Chan's : The Way of Lao Tzu -JJL Duyvendak's : Tao Te Ching -Guanghu He et al : The book of Lao Zi -Robert Henricks's : Lao Tzu Te-Tao Ching -Philip Ivenhoe's : The Daodejing of Laozi -D.C Lau's : Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching -Paul Lin's : A translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching -Thomas Miles's : Tao Te Ching -Charles Muller's : Tao Te Ching -Red Pine : Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching -Henry Wei's : The guiding light of Lao Tzu -Yi Wu : The book of Lao Tzu The Gia-fu Feng/Jane English version makes his "B" list . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
889 1,778 Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 I've always liked Legge's translation. I certainly don't know enough about Daoism to judge how true a translation it is, but it inarguably has literary style. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
朱真明 1 Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 This is my favourite. http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Ching-Art-Harmony-Philosophical/dp/1844838501/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1458078958&sr=8-3&keywords=Chad+Hansen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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