Chuang Tzu: The Inner Chapters

by David Hinton

Overview

Revered for millennia in the Chinese spiritual tradition of the Tao Te Ching, this poetic translation of an ancient Taoist text comes alive for the modern reader

Witty, engaging and spiced with the lyricism of poetry, Chuang Tzu's Taoist insights in the Inner Chapters are timely and eternal. The only sustained section of text widely believed to be the work of Chuang Tzu himself, these chapters date to the 4th century B.C.E and are profoundly concerned with spiritual ecology.

With bold and startling prose, David Hinton's vital translation is surprisingly modern, making this ancient text from the golden age of Chinese philosophy come alive for contemporary readers. The Inner Chapters' fantastical passages offer up a wild menagerie of characters, freewheeling play with language, and surreal humor. Interwoven with Chuang Tzu's sharp instruction on the Tao are short stories that are often rough and ribald, rich with satire and paradox.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619024434
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	12/16/2014
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	920L (what's this?)

About the Author

David Hinton has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, numerous fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and both of the major awards given for poetry translation in the United States: the Landon Translation Award, and the PEN Translation Award. His recent book of essays, Hunger Mountain: A Field Guide to Mind and Landscape, was on the Best–Books–of–the–Year list at The Guardian in England. Hinton lives in Vermont.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt from Analects:

Adept Kung said: "When the Master talks about civility and cultivation, you can hear what he says. But when he talks about the nature of things and the Way of Heaven, you can't hear a word."

Editorial Reviews

The Chuang Tzu, named after its author (364-290 B.C.E.), along with the Tao Te Ching, form the basis for philosophical Taoism. Only the "inner chapters," the first seven of the 33, are completely attributed to Chuang Tzu. Hinton offers a vibrant translation that captures the subtlety, complexity, ambiguity, and profound depth of the Eastern text. His ten-page introduction sets the work in its historical context and shows how Chuang Tzu's perspective is revealed through his use of language. Hinton is helpful in pointing out the numerous genreshumor, parable, myth, story, and philosophyChuang Tzu has used to compose his text. Hinton's refreshing translation is modern while at the same time capturing, rather than distorting, the Eastern essence of this work. Highly recommended even for libraries having a previous copy of this work.David Bourquin, California State Univ., San Bernadino

Library Journal