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A fundamental book of the Taoist, the Tao Te Ching is regarded as a revelation in its own right. It provides a wealth of wisdom and insights for those seeking a better understanding of themselves. Over time, many changes have been made to the original Chinese text. Researcher Patrick M. Byrne has produced a translation that is accurate and easy to understand, while capturing the pattern and harmony of the original.
Lao Tzu was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, and best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching.
Patrick M. Byrne, PhD, received his undergraduate degree in Asian studies and philosophy from Dartmouth College, a
certification from Beijing Teachers University, his master’s degree from Cambridge University, and his doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University.
Contents
A Note on Transliteration
Introduction
The Historical Record by Si-Ma Qian
Book I�Tao
1 Actualizing the Tao
2 Self-Culture
3 Keeping Peace Among the People
4 The Sourceless
5 The Use of Emptiness
6 The Accomplishment of Form
7 Sheathing the Radiance
8 Changing Nature
9 Practicing Smoothness
10 Being Able to Act
11 Using the Non-Being
12 Restraining Desire
13 Loathing Disgrace
14 Appreciating the Mysterious
15 Revealing the Te
16 Returning to the Root
17 Simplifying Style
18 Belittling the Vulgar
19 Returning to the Simple
20 Differing from the Plebeian
21 Emptying the Heart
22 Increasing Humility
23 The Empty Non-Being
24 Suffering Favor
25 The Form of the Profound
26 The Te of Dignity
27 Using Skill
28 Returning to Simplicity
29 Not Acting
30 Frugality in War
31 Eliminating War
32 The Virtue of the Sage
33 Negotiating Te
34 Allowing Change
35 Benevolence and Te
36 Subtle Enlightenment
37 Administering the Government
Book II�Te
38 Analyzing Te
39 Model the Root
40 Avoiding Utility
41 Similarity and Disparity
42 Tao Transforming
43 Universal Utility
44 Establishing Warnings
45 Grand Te
46 Moderating Desire
47 Surveying the Distant
48 Forgetting Knowledge
49 Trusting in Te
50 Cherishing Life
51 Nurturing Te
52 Returning to the Origin
53 Gaining Insight
54 Cultivating Perception
55 The Seal of Mystery
56 Profound Te
57 Simplicity of Habit
58 Adapting to Change
59 Keeping to the Tao
60 Maintaining One’s Position
61 The Te of Humility
62 Acting in Tao
63 Contemplating the Beginning
64 Guarding the Obscure
65 The Simplicity of Te
66 Placing Oneself Behind
67 The Three Treasures
68 Complying with Heaven
69 The Function of the Obscure
70 Knowing the Difficult
71 Knowing Sickness
72 Loving the Self
73 Allowing It to Happen
74 Curtailing Delusion
75 The Waste in Greediness
76 Beware of Strength
77 The Tao of Heaven
78 Trusting to Faith
79 Upholding Contracts
80 Independence
81 Making Plain the Essential
Bibliography
About the Translator
Contents
A Note on Transliteration, ix
Introduction, 1
The Historical Record by Si-Ma Qian, 9
Book I�Tao
1 Actualizing the Tao, 13
2 Self-Culture, 14
3 Keeping Peace Among the People, 15
4 The Sourceless, 16
5 The Use of Emptiness, 16
6 The Accomplishment of Form, 17
7 Sheathing the Radiance, 17
8 Changing Nature, 18
9 Practicing Smoothness, 19
10 Being Able to Act, 20
11 Using the Non-Being, 21
12 Restraining Desire, 22
13 Loathing Disgrace, 23
14 Appreciating the Mysterious, 24
15 Revealing the Te, 26
16 Returning to the Root, 27
17 Simplifying Style, 28
18 Belittling the Vulgar, 29
19 Returning to the Simple, 29
20 Differing from the Plebeian, 30
21 Emptying the Heart, 31
22 Increasing Humility, 32
23 The Empty Non-Being, 33
24 Suffering Favor, 34
25 The Form of the Profound, 34
26 The Te of Dignity, 36
27 Using Skill, 37
28 Returning to Simplicity, 38
29 Not Acting, 39
30 Frugality in War, 41
31 Eliminating War, 42
32 The Virtue of the Sage, 44
33 Negotiating Te, 45
34 Allowing Change, 46
35 Benevolence and Te, 47
36 Subtle Enlightenment, 48
37 Administering the Government, 49
Book II�Te
38 Analyzing Te, 53
39 Model the Root, 55
40 Avoiding Utility, 57
41 Similarity and Disparity, 58
42 Tao Transforming, 60
43 Universal Utility, 61
44 Establishing Warnings, 62
45 Grand Te, 63
46 Moderating Desire, 65
47 Surveying the Distant, 66
48 Forgetting Knowledge, 67
49 Trusting in Te, 68
50 Cherishing Life, 70
51 Nurturing Te, 71
52 Returning to the Origin, 72
53 Gaining Insight, 73
54 Cultivating Perception, 74
55 The Seal of Mystery, 76
56 Profound Te, 78
57 Simplicity of Habit, 79
58 Adapting to Change, 80
59 Keeping to the Tao, 82
60 Maintaining One’s Position, 83
61 The Te of Humility, 84
62 Acting in Tao, 86
63 Contemplating the Beginning, 87
64 Guarding the Obscure, 88
65 The Simplicity of Te, 90
66 Placing Oneself Behind, 91
67 The Three Treasures, 92
68 Complying with Heaven, 93
69 The Function of the Obscure, 94
70 Knowing the Difficult, 95
71 Knowing Sickness, 96
72 Loving the Self, 97
73 Allowing It to Happen, 98
74 Curtailing Delusion, 99
75 The Waste in Greediness, 100
76 Beware of Strength, 101
77 The Tao of Heaven, 103
78 Trusting to Faith, 105
79 Upholding Contracts, 106
80 Independence, 107
81 Making Plain the Essential, 109
Bibliography, 111
About the Translator, 113
Introduction
Legend has it that an elderly scholar in ancient China, a historian and philosopher perhaps twenty years senior to Confucius, journeyed to the western edge of the empire with the intent of wandering off into the wilderness. There at the frontier a gate-keeper, concerned that such a respected man of learning was soon to be lost to barbarian lands, asked the scholar to write a book to leave at the border. The old man distilled a lifetime of learning into about five thousand two hundred and fifty words, then left.
There are over four hundred commentaries on those words, and fragments of several hundred more. It is the most dissected and analyzed book in Chinese literature; its effect on Chinese culture and thought rivals that of Confucius and Buddha. After the Bible, it is the most frequently translated piece of literature in the world; there are more than forty English versions.
Yet the old man was laconic to the point of obscurity; rarely do any two commentaries agree on the exact meaning of his words, and agreement between translators has been rarer still. What is rendered by one, for example, as “The ruler in always carrying out the Tao / Does not abandon his tranquility and sedateness” is given by another as “Therefore the sage travels all day / Without leaving his baggage.” To complicate matters even further, it seems notes scribbled in the margins by some scholars were mistaken for lines of text by later readers, until literally dozens of versions of the book came into being. These in turn spawned more commentaries aimed at reconstructing the original text.
At some point in the process, probably in the second century bc, the text was divided into eighty-one chapters. By the time of the great historian Si-ma Qian (Sze-ma Ch’ien, 185–136 bc?), the Herodotus of the Orient, the chapters had been arranged in two books: the first thirty-seven comprise the “higher” Book I, discussing Tao, while the latter forty-four make up the “lower” Book II, discussing Te. Tao and Te translate loosely as “way” and “virtue” (more on these concepts later); thus the book became known as the “Scripture of the Way of Virtue,” the Tao Te Ching.
The Historical Records of Si-ma Qian indicate that the old man, whose name Lao Tzu () means literally “old fellow” or “old master,” met with Confucius in approximately 518 bc. Si-ma Qian states elsewhere, however, that Lao Tzu’s son served as a general in 273 bc. This and other discrepancies have led scholars to date Lao Tzu and his text from as early as the sixth century bc to as late as the second century bc. For some time it has been suggested that Lao Tzu never existed, and that the book attributed to him is a mere compilation of ancient sayings. According to this thesis, the biography given in the Historical Records was only Si-ma Qian’s account of a legend of Lao Tzu that had worked its way into Chinese folklore. Though it is plausible that a compiler of a book such as Lao Tzu’s might attribute it to a fictitious “Old Master,” given the traditional Chinese respect for age, the work is too coherent and contains too strong a theme to be merely a collection of ancient adages. And while its representation of Heaven seems influenced by Mo-zi’s notion of the Will of Heaven, it also presents us with a philosophy distinct enough from others in the Chinese tradition that we may safely assent to its being the work of one man, expanded and revised by many.
The most accepted text, the one considered most original, is that of Wang-bi (226–249 ad). The Ho-shang Kung text is alleged to be three hundred years older, but there is good reason to doubt its authenticity. In 1973, the Mawang-dui text (literally translated “horse-king-mound,” but known in the West as the “Silk Text”) was discovered in Hunan. The order of the chapters in the Silk Text is reversed from that of the other versions, and it seems to predate even the Ho-shang Kung. For the moment, however, the Wang-bi text is still the standard version, and except in those parts where another version is obviously superior in clarity or consistency, the Wang-bi is the one I have translated here.
My goal in translating this work was to provide as near a word-for-word rendering of the Chinese as possible while maintaining the flavor and readability of Lao Tzu’s words. Although the number of previous translations might seem to preclude my contributing anything further to our understanding of the Tao Te Ching by translating it again, as D.C. Lau wrote, “Unfortunately it cannot be said that it has been best served by its numerous translators, as the nature of the work attracted many whose enthusiasm for Eastern mysticism far outstripped their acquaintance with Chinese thought or even with the Chinese language.” Most translations seem to be poetry draped over a framework of Lao Tzu’s words, while a few stand at the other end of the spectrum and detail the development of the text and the differences between various versions at any given point, without ever clearly expressing the thoughts contained therein. Yet, certain as I was that I had something to offer with my translation, after finishing it I am equally certain that I have not exhausted the field.
The Chinese text consulted for my translation was that contained in Dr. Paul Carus’s book Tao Teh King. Dr. Carus in turn held to the Wang-bi text, with several incorporations of the Su Cheh, Nishimura, Tetzugaka Kwan Philosophical Institute, and Stanislas Julien texts and interpretations. Dr. Carus’s version was compared throughout with those contained in Man-jan Cheng’s and Ch’en Ku-ying’s works, the latter providing excellent references concerning the nonstandard texts. The original text of Si-ma Qian’s biography of Lao Tzu, which follows this introduction, is also from Dr. Carus’s book.
Lao Tzu’s words contain many latent messages and obscure references which only a reader familiar with Chinese history and customs would understand. Rather than making manifest hidden meanings within the translation of the text itself, and thereby losing the flavor of the Chinese, I have whenever possible left the English as cryptic as the original while explaining further implications in notes at the ends of the chapters. In the notes I also point out the places where the texts diverge, and give some alternate interpretations of certain lines. I have written my own commentaries on the important chapters, and these follow the notes.
Most transliteration follows the pinyin system now used in mainland China, except for names customarily transliterated by another system—specifically, Tao Te Ching and Lao Tzu—Chinese words in quotes from writers who used other systems.
The indentation throughout the text has been designed to convey the rhythm of the original. The Chinese of Lao Tzu is full of parallel structures, parenthetical asides, rushes and pauses. It sings and mumbles and even gasps at times, all in a way for which there are no typographical symbols. By indenting certain lines I sought to display these parallelisms clearly and allow the reader, if reading aloud at a natural pace, to hear the music of Lao Tzu’s work.
Several of the most important concepts in the Tao Te Ching were impossible to render into idiomatic English without loss, so they are explained here. As is often the case with Chinese words, we find no exact equivalents in English but need to approximate the meaning by combining the denotations and connotations of several words:
Tao “Road, way, passage, zone, doctrine, officer, to say, method, rationality, reason, line.” The concepts of “rationality,” “system,” and “saying” contained in this word have led some to consider it the equivalent of the Greek logos, which has been translated into English as “word.” (“In the beginning was the Word.”)
Te “Moral character, virtue, moral excellence, heart, mind, kindness.” Perhaps best approximated by the Greek areté.
Ching “Scripture, canon, classic.” Used to refer to the Chinese classics (Confucian, Taoist, and others) and Buddhist scriptures, as well as in the Chinese name of the Christian Bible and even, in modern times, the “canonical” writings of Marxism-Leninism.
Wu-wei Wu means “without”; wei means “to do, cause, make, effect.” The two together imply a state of effortless non-striving, though this does not exactly mean doing absolutely nothing. Often, wu-wei may be best translated simply as “effortlessly.”
Pu The character shows a tree next to a thicket, meaning uncut wood. Wood that is uncut or unworked, that has not been embellished, stands as a symbol for the sage in Lao Tzu’s writing. A man who is pu is simple, honest, and unaffected.
“The ten-thousand-things” All the myriad objects and things in the world.
“All under Heaven” Lao Tzu’s way of saying “the empire” or “the universe.”
“Sage” The man for whom Lao Tzu is writing. In some usages in Chinese it implies holiness, though for Lao Tzu it simply means a wise man, often a philosopher-king.
In closing, I would like to express my thanks to series consultant Skip Whitson; Estelle Schultze, my agent; Robert Henricks, who showed me where to begin and how to continue with this translation; and especially to Dr. Li Hua-yuan Mowry, to whose long hours, incredible dedication, and inexhaustible patience I owe the completion of this work.
Patrick Byrne
Cambridge University
