Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Overview

A rich, poetic, and socially relevant version of the great spiritual-philosophical classic of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching—from a legendary literary icon

Most people know Ursula K. Le Guin for her extraordinary science fiction and fantasy. Fewer know just how pervasive Taoist themes are to so much of her work. And in Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, we are treated to Le Guin’s unique take on Taoist philosophy’s founding classic.
 
Le Guin presents Lao Tzu’s time-honored and astonishingly powerful philosophy like never before. Drawing on a lifetime of contemplation and including extensive personal commentary throughout, she offers an unparalleled window into the text’s awe-inspiring, immediately relatable teachings and their inestimable value for our troubled world.
 
Jargon-free but still faithful to the poetic beauty of the original work, Le Guin’s unique translation is sure to be welcomed by longtime readers of the Tao Te Ching as well as those discovering the text for the first time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611807240
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	136
Sales rank:	104,104
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) is an internationally celebrated author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, and essays, including The Left Hand of Darkness, Always Coming Home, and the Earthsea Cycle series. Her numerous literary awards include six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Hometown:

Portland, Oregon

Date of Birth:

October 21, 1929

Place of Birth:

Berkeley, California

Education:

B.A., Radcliffe College; M.A., Columbia University, 1952

Website:

http://www.ursulakleguin.com

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

Book 1 Chapters 1-37 1

Book 2 Chapters 38-81 45

Notes

Concerning This Version 99

Sources 101

Notes on Some Choices of Wording 105

The Two Texts of the Tao Te Ching 107

Notes on the Chapters 109

Editorial Reviews

A student of the Tao for several decades, Le Guin has created an English text that will speak to modern readers in a fresh and lively way, while conveying the humor, insight, and beauty of the original.”
—Lion’s Roar
 
“The type of work which the great Polish poet and Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska meant when she spoke of ‘that rare miracle when a translation stops being a translation and becomes . . . a second original’ . . . The whole of Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching is well worth savoring—as much for the ancient substance as for Le Guin’s stylistic splendor.”
—Maria Popova, The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings)

“Reading [Le Guin's] translations is like taking a shared walk down a familiar trail where we discover rocks and water that we somehow missed before . . . undeniably refreshing, capturing a language that is casual and clear, reflective and pointed, full of the wise humor of the Way.”
—Parabola

“A student of the Tao for several decades, Le Guin has created an English text that will speak to modern readers in a fresh and lively way, while conveying the humor, insight and beauty of the original.”
—Shambhala Sun

“Among the many translations of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin’s new version is a special treasure—a delight. There is something startlingly fresh and creatively alive here, brought forth by Ms. Le Guin’s intuitive and personal ingenuity.”
—Chuangliang Al Huang, founder of the Living Tao Foundation and co-author of Tao: The Watercourse Way

From the Publisher