道德經

Tao Te Ching

A chapter-by-chapter review of English translations of the Tao Te Ching, all 81 chapters, plus readings of other Daoist classics — by Jesse Lau (遁一).

Reading the Tao Te Ching through its translations

The Tao Te Ching is about five thousand characters long, and every one of them has been translated a dozen different ways. My longest-running series on this blog puts those English translations side by side, three chapters per post, all 81 chapters, and asks what each translator saw — and missed — in the original Chinese.

The series is written in Chinese, but it is about English: every post quotes the translations it compares. Beyond the Tao Te Ching I also read and annotate other Daoist classics — the Yinfu Jing, Xisheng Jing, Tianyinzi and Zuowang Lun — collected in the Chinese hub.

For me, studying the Tao and building trading systems are two sides of one practice — see TradingwithEA. Video versions are on YouTube at @jesselaunz; shorter reflections go to 𝕏 at @jesselaunz.

Tao Te Ching — English translations reviewed, chapters 1–81

Written in Chinese, three chapters per post, comparing several English translations side by side. Your browser's translate button works well here.

27 posts
  1. 一到三章
  2. 四到六章
  3. 七到九章
  4. 十到十二章
  5. 十三到十五章
  6. 十六到十八章
  7. 十九到二十一章
  8. 二十二到二十四章
  9. 二十五到二十七章
  10. 二十八到三十章
  11. 三十一到三十三章
  12. 三十四到三十六章
  13. 三十七到三十九章
  14. 四十到四十二章
  15. 四十三到四十五章
  16. 四十六到四十八章
  17. 四十九到五十一章
  18. 五十二到五十四章
  19. 五十五到五十七章
  20. 五十八到六十章
  21. 六十一到六十三章
  22. 六十四到六十六章
  23. 六十七到六十九章
  24. 七十到七十二章
  25. 七十三到七十五章
  26. 七十六到七十八章
  27. 七十九到八十一章

Jesse Lau · @jesselaunz

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Long-form on the blog, videos on YouTube, daily notes on 𝕏 — one person, one thread.