Author(s): Lao Tzu

Religion

In this deluxe, quality volume, renowned translator William Scott Wilson offers a fresh version of this Chinese classic, with an approachable and inspiring translation that will fascinate the modern reader. While most translators rely on the 'new' text of 200 B.C., Wilson plunged back 300 years to 500 B.C. to translate from the original characters of the time in which author Lao Tzu lived. As the original text was lost, this required detective work on Wilson's part to reassemble, in puzzlelike fashion, as much of the original text as possible. With the use of the newer characters 300 years later, the nuance of the original text shifted in a number of places, and Wilson, where he can, offers fresh and revealing nuances of this classic work unexplored to this point. Also for the modern reader, Wilson penned two revealing essays, "Zen and Taoism" and "Zen and the Martial Arts" that link the spiritual aspects for avid followers of Zen and martial practices of both China and Japan. The Tao Te Ching itself is the seminal text of Taoism-a study of the inner world. It emphasises simplicity, spontaneity, tranquility, and non-action.