Tao Te Ching - your preferred translation?

There's a vast multitude of takes on Lao Tzu's timeless work out there and no real consensus on which is best, as so much of it comes down to personal preference. Which is your favourite translation?

I like a few - of the more "legitimate" translations my favourite is the Addiss and Lombardo version .

But probably my favourite of all is Ron Hogan's version , which takes a variety of translations and synthesises them into a modern-language snappy dialogue remaster. There's something beautiful about seeing the great leveller Lao Tzu's words presented with such little ceremony, in totally modern language - and, for the most part, the original meaning (or a version of it, which is all that's available in translation anyway) remains pretty much unobstructed:

1

If you can talk about it,
it ain't Tao.
If it has a name,
it's just another thing.

Tao doesn't have a name.
Names are for ordinary things.

Stop wanting stuff. It keeps you from seeing what's real.
When you want stuff, all you see are things.

These two statements have the same meaning.
Figure them out, and you've got it made.

There's room for mysticism and that classic crystalline terseness, but for me there's also room for a little affectionate irreverence.

Additional love for the Derek Lin and Ursula Le Guin translations for their detail and simplicity, respectively.

For reference, this is the best site I've found for links to complete translations .

i was told that like the quran, it is really only useful in the original language. hence why there are so many versions of this thing, with quite a few differences between them.

Well, I'm sure the original is superior in every respect, but not being able to read Classical Chinese I've still learnt a great deal from various translations over the years. The translations have certainly been of practical and spiritual use to me!

Perhaps reading them in this way, being exposed to a variety of different interpretations and then forming our own opinion of what is meant/relevant/valid is more valuable than texts which only maintain a single version?

nah, mostly i was just messing with you, man. i personally dont care which version you use, as it seems to me to be a mental/spiritual rorschach test anyway. you read into it pretty much whatever you want.

I would give my left arm to read the first biblical new testament manuscript in greek. O_O MMMM

Connor

I found this earlier today.

http://www.myriobiblos.gr/bible/default.asp