Daodejing
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- $23.99
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
A transformative new edition of Taoism’s central text that overturns its reputation for calming, gnomic wisdom, revealing instead a work of “philosophical dynamite.”
Grounded in a lifetime of research and interpretive work and informed by careful study of recent archeological discoveries of alternate versions of the text, Brook Ziporyn, one of the preeminent explicators of Eastern religions in English, brings us a revelatory new translation—and a radical reinterpretation—of the central text of Taoist thought. Ziporyn offers an alternative to the overly comforting tone of so many translations, revealing instead the electrifying strangeness and explosively unsettling philosophical implications of this famously ambiguous work. In Ziporyn’s hands, this is no mere “wisdom book” of anodyne affirmations or mildly diverting brain-teasers—this pathbreaking Daodejing will forever change how the text is read and understood in the West.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ziporyn, a University of Chicago scholar of ancient and medieval Chinese religion and philosophy, presents a challenging and nuanced new translation of the Daodejing. Though English versions of this Daoist classic abound, Ziporyn draws from multiple textual variants to offer an interpretation full of ambiguity, wordplay, and conceptual playfulness. Ziporyn views this classic not as a single-authored text with a consistent thesis but as a "best-of selection of exemplars of a defunct ancient genre." Ziporyn's choice to translate what is typically parsed as "the Dao" or "the Way" as "course" or even "coursing" exemplifies the freewheeling and multifaceted character of his interpretation. The endnotes offer a deeper look into the rigor and simultaneous flexibility of Ziporyn's translation style, as he discusses the many ways a translator can parse a difficult passage depending on double entendres, irony, puns, and more. One refrain, for example, can mean "producing but not possessing," "born without possessing anything," or "alive but not existing" depending on whether its verbs are construed as transitive or intransitive. Ziporyn's interpretation strikes a fine balance between philosophical ingenuity and readability, offering a new and rewarding way to read the Daodejing. This ambitious translation will engage newcomers and the well acquainted alike.
