Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) - Book Review

How much difference can there be from two translations of the same work?

'Tao Te Ching' by Lao Tzu is the most influential and well known of the Taoist texts. Traditionally it was thought to be written by a single man named Lao Tzu, although modern day scholars believe it was more likely an amalgamation from multiple sources. It contains 81 verses of varying length and is primarily musings/sayings for contemplation and philosophical purposes. There are multiple translations of this work and your reading of it will depend on if you choose one that is more artistic or more scholarly.

I summarised the book as follows. "The Tao Te Ching is a philosophy for a certain person at a certain stage in their life. I think it's good for adding to your own personal philosophy or maxims, as it's definitely not something to find practical/actionable advice. It basically advocates a calm, humble mindset and I found Wu Wei to be a useful concept. I also would recommend reading it with two translations (particularly if one is more scholarly and the other more artistic) as this will give you an enhanced perspective of Taoism."

As always, I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Intro & Synopsis
(4:00) - Wu Wei: Effortless action
(7:16) - The Translations: Scholarly vs artistic
(11:18) - Takeaways & Favourite Verses
(15:16) - Summary

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