An Intro to the Tao Te Ching

One thing I sort of forgot to do, when I began my series on the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching, was to write an intro about the history of the book itself. Since I didn't do that AND I don't believe in the need for reinventing the wheel, I suggest you visit A New Shade of Black. Here's a snippet:

A lot of Chinese words can be used as nouns, adjectives, and verbs all at the same time making it difficult to properly translate to English. The original intent can easily be lost. There are numerous translations of Tao Te Ching with more increasingly being made. They can appear as completely different texts. It is worth taking time to read different versions to help fully understand what was meant, especially when the translations consummate each other.

While I'm making suggestions, here's another one. Over at The Journeyman Philosopher, Paul has written an excellent book review of Above Us Only Sky by Don Cupitt. Both of these posts have been added to my Tumble Log.