Tao Te Jing in Plain English

The
Tao Te Ching is one of the more popularly translated
texts of all historical Chinese writings. Despite the many efforts that have
gone into studying and translating Lao Tzus works, it is still remains very
difficult to understand, even to native readers. Therefore, only those who
fully comprehend the text can translate it properly. This version opts to give
as accurate of a translation in as plain of English as possible. Since our goal
is to bring a comprehendible Tao Te Ching to our readers,
we decided against conforming to any sort of poetic forms. Although we used the
same original text as some of the other translators, there are some notable
differences in our interpretations, such as in Chapters One and Twenty. In
order to better allow our readers to understand the text, this translation also
compares Lao Tzus ideas with other great thinkers, such as Einstein and
Napoleon.