Customer Reviews
Are Arthur Waley's words "very easy to understand"? - By: Robert Paul, 23 Feb 2005 
This is the first translation of Tao Te Ching (pronounced Dao De Jing) that I read & I felt that it was superb at the time. However I have since come to doubt the Arthur Waley's translation simply because of his arrogant introduction where he claims that alll of the 800-odd translations before his fail to "get to the heart of the Tao Te Ching." As Master Cheng Man-Ching states "Lao Tzu wrote 'My words are very easy to understand' so why are we still left in the dark?"
I suspect the truth is that there is no definitive translation of Tao Te Ching. Instead you have to choose one that is tailored to your specific needs. Waley's serves as a good introduction, but adjusts the text (very, very slightly) to suit the needs of the reader with a grounding in Western schools of philosophy. This is the impression I get.
If you are more interested in the Eastern perspective, especiallly
the relationship between the Tao & Chi, then I would recommend Cheng Man-Ching's translation with running commentary, titled My Words Are Very Easy To Understand.
I also found Waley's footnotes to be a little obtrusive & not greatly informative. However, these are minor complaints. On the whole I would recommend this translation. Arthur Waley knows more about the Tao Te Ching than I do. But is he a Taoist himself or just a very good scholar? After reading his translation I think you'll know the answer.
Awe inspiring - By: , 10 Jan 2005 
Not an easy read, but well worth the time taken to provoke your thoughts, & take you to a differnt spiritual level.
Just great! - By: , 20 Mar 2002 This translation of the book of the way truly captures Lao Tzu's original meanings. Having read many trnslations i have found this to be the best that is out there at the moment. Buy it!
Difficult, but good. - By: , 14 Jan 2002 This is a very smalll book but contains very important & interesting material for everyone who sympathises with philosophy or religion. Also a very good self help book giving you deep information on how to empty the mind, become calmer & better.
He who has wide learning does not know... - By: Maquis de la Mer, 05 Jul 2001 For others like me who are interested in some of the world's most fascinating literatures on politics, war, poetry, culture, etc. this is one book to certainly get one's intellectual teeth into. A book more moral in tone that mystical, it aims to direct the reader towards a manner of thought that is as old as China itself. Make of it what you will for that is the capacity (or incapacity) of this piece of literature. It can be enjoyed as a manual for living, transcripts of a religious belief, indirect insight into a culture or merely for its poetry alone. But it is none of these, yet alll of them at once too.
