La réponse courte
- Choose our edition if you want the whole Tao Te Ching: all 81 chapters, nothing left out, with a 15-minute summary beside it.
- For study: set a few key passages of the Tao Te Ching beside a word-for-word scholarly translation.
How translations differ
The classical Chinese of the Tao Te Ching is extremely compact, and its verbs do not change form for tense. A single line often allows several readings. A translator must therefore decide which reading to express when the Chinese leaves more than one possible.
What makes the Tao Te Ching hard to translate
Tao, also spelled Dao, means a road or way, but it also means the way of nature. Translating the term requires a decision about how to carry those meanings into English. Leaving Tao unchanged preserves the term without choosing an English equivalent. Translating it means choosing how to express its range. The opening chapter adds another problem by questioning whether the Tao that can be spoken is the lasting Tao.
Chapter 8 compares goodness to water, while Chapter 11 uses the hub of a wheel and the hollow of a pot. These passages make the translator work with concrete images rather than a term alone. The English must convey the comparison with water and the images of hub and hollow. The translation problem concerns both the objects named and the ideas expressed through those objects.
The kinds of translation of the Tao Te Ching
| Kind of translation | What it keeps | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Word for word | Each Chinese term of the Tao Te Ching, as closely as English allows | Study, next to the Chinese. |
| Interpretive | The meaning of the Tao Te Ching, put in the translator's own words | A first read. |
| Poetic | The beauty and rhythm of the lines of the Tao Te Ching | Reading aloud and reflecting. |
| Library of Alexandria | The whole text of the Tao Te Ching, in clear, modern English | A first read, with a 15-minute summary beside it. Open our edition |
When to set a passage beside a scholarly translation
For study, use our edition for the whole text and set a few key passages beside a word-for-word scholarly translation. In the opening chapter, notice how Tao is handled. In Chapter 8, compare the wording that links goodness to water. In Chapter 11, examine how the hub of the wheel and the hollow of the pot are expressed.
Questions
Why do translations of the Tao Te Ching differ so much?
Its compact classical Chinese often allows several readings of a single line. Verbs do not change form for tense, so translators must make decisions that the Chinese does not settle in that way. Tao also carries several meanings, and translators differ on whether to translate the term or leave it unchanged.
How long is the Tao Te Ching?
Our edition takes about 40 minutes to read at an average pace. The text has about 5,000 Chinese characters arranged in 81 short chapters, and that reading time covers all 81 chapters.
Do I need to know Chinese to read the Tao Te Ching?
You can read the Tao Te Ching in translation without knowing Chinese. An Interpretive translation keeps the meaning in the translator's own words and suits a first read. A Word for word translation keeps each Chinese term as closely as English allows and suits study next to the Chinese.
What is the difference between Tao Te Ching and Dao De Jing?
Dao De Jing is another spelling of the title the Tao Te Ching, not a different work. Older books also use Tao Teh King. Tao and Dao are spellings of the same term, which means a road or way and also the way of nature.
Is the Library of Alexandria edition of the Tao Te Ching complete?
Yes. The whole text is there, all 81 chapters, in clear, modern language.
