Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching [ペーパーバック]

Like other reviewers, I have read some translations of the Tao Te
Ching (Daodejing) and looked at many others. Like Mrs. Le Guin points
out in her note at the end of the book, I also believe that the one by
Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English is the most satisfactory in a literary
sense. However, sometimes it lacks the simplicity and immediacy which
this rendition gives to Lao Tzu's "very easy to understand"
words. Also, Mrs. Le Guin stayed with me throughout the book, and what
she had to say amounted to a fantastic commentary to the wisdom of the
Tao. Take for example Chapter 11 in page 14. At the bottom is a note
that says: "One of the things I love about Lao Tzu is he is so
funny. He's explaining a profound and difficult truth here, ....[and]
goes about it with this deadpan simplicity, talking about pots."
This kind of comment conveys, in my opinion, exactly the essence of
Taoism as predicated by Lao Tzu. There's nothing complicated, nothing
intrincate about Taoist wisdom. And Mrs. LeGuin sticks to this
(taoist) simplicity throughout the book. Being a translator myself, I
dare say that some of Lao Tzu's translators became obsessed with
"extracting" deep meaning from the Tao Te Ching, trying to
retain the tone, now looking for complicated words to convey
"exact" meaning, now glossing over a passage, losing the
reader along the way. As Mrs. LeGuin points out in the introduction to
this book "Scholarly translations of the Tao Te Ching as a manual
for rulers use a vocabulary that emphasizes the uniqueness of the
Taoist "sage", his masculinity, his authority." The
result is dry, unsatisfactory, nihilistic, detached. This rendition
is, like Ursula Le Guin says of the original, "...the purest
water....the deepest spring". I daresay that if Lao Tzu could
read all the modern English versions of his work, he would enjoy
Ursula LeGuin's the most, laughing heartily at every page. There is no
way that someone who reads this version will not want to re-read it,
or fail to come out of the reading with a new perspective on life, one
that recognizes the simplicity, unity, and changeable nature of
everything. Thank you, Ursula Le Guin, for rendering Taoism for the
modern Western rader. This book is my bedside companion, I have given
it to everyone I love, and recommend it to anyone who has ever
wondered about Taoism, and to all other translators, not for its exact
use of English equivalents for Chinese words, but for the perfect way
in which the idea behind the words has been committed to
paper. "...I was lucky to discover [Lao Tzu] so young, so that I
could live with his book my whole life long" says Ursula LeGuin
in her introduction. I think I was very lucky to read her version,
which has helped me see the beauty, the magic, the simplicity, the
Tao.

There are many 'translations' of Lao Tsu's words. Which is the best? Perhaps it is not measured by the literal accuracy of the translation, or the poetic artestry of the word, but by it's ability to help the reader gain the perspective that Lao Tsu envisioned as the Tao. A translation that works for one, may not yield the same result for another.

Le Guin's rendition of Lao Tzu's 'Tao te Ching' was, for me, a good addition to my understanding. I have many copies. I almost always compare one with another when I sit down to think. Some 'translations' are better than others for different passages, or moods. With more than 15 years of experience in Asian cultures, primarily Japanese, and many years of contemplating Lao Tzu's writings, I recognize that some translations rely more heavily on a broader asian perspective than others. What seems natural or obvious to one steeped in asian culture may be contradictory or even 'silly' to a westerner This doesn't mean the message is wrong, but that the wording is not suited for that reader. One interpretation alone was insufficient to help me comprehend the simple nature of the Tao.

Once I began to see my world from within the understanding of the Tao, rather than see the Tao from the outside through others' words, I found a new enjoyment in seeing how others perceive the Tao. This is why I enjoyed Ursula K. Le Guin's approach immensely. Clearly, Ms. Le Guin feels the awe and wonder of the simple way, as I am beginning to enjoy it.

Hers is not as literal or as historically steeped as some, and not as contemporary as others (Stephen Mitchell). Not a hard-hitting philosophical analysis (Wing-Tsit Chan), nor an obscure or remote work [Asian feeling] (Gai-Fu Fen/Jane English). Her words invited me to enjoy the comprehension of the simplicity of it all.

Her approach was natural, simple, straightforward. In her fresh wording, I saw an elegence in the principles, a form of beauty. Her words reminded me of how I felt when I began to understand.

Thank you, Ms. Le Guin, for your contribution to my enjoyment of the Tao.

I have been a big fan of Ms. Le Guin's writing for many, many years now. I now understand some source of the depths of meaning I have always found in her science fiction (cf. "Left Hand of Darkness"). It speaks to me. So does this translation.

I have it on good authority that the translation is about as good as one can get, and still preserve the glimpses of the author's personality. My good friend from Beijing has the Tao in its original language: even he has difficulty with the ancient dialect at times. He is using this version, in English, to share with his teenage son, because it seems to preserve the sense of the text.