Over the past few months, I have been collecting a number of translations for the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi. I reason that, if I'm going to commit significant time toward writing about these two Taoist classics on this here blog, the least I could do is become more familiar with the text as rendered by different translators.
As philosophical Taoism involves no orthodoxy whatsoever, there truly can be no definitive translation. Even if we were able to find the original copy of each work and all translators could agree on the precise wording -- which ain't gonna happen, by the way -- people would still interpret the texts differently. While such an inherent situation would be viewed poorly by far too many Christian adherents, it really should trouble no one who ascribes to Taoist principles.
While you certainly can find much of this information in the right sidebar, here are the translations I am utilizing as reference material for the various series on this blog:
Tao Te Ching/Lao Tzu
As philosophical Taoism involves no orthodoxy whatsoever, there truly can be no definitive translation. Even if we were able to find the original copy of each work and all translators could agree on the precise wording -- which ain't gonna happen, by the way -- people would still interpret the texts differently. While such an inherent situation would be viewed poorly by far too many Christian adherents, it really should trouble no one who ascribes to Taoist principles.
While you certainly can find much of this information in the right sidebar, here are the translations I am utilizing as reference material for the various series on this blog:
Tao Te Ching/Lao Tzu
- Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained by Derek Lin.
- Tao Te Ching by Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English.
- Lao Tzu's Taoteching by Red Pine.
- Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity & the Way by Victor H. Mair.
- The Essential Tao by Thomas Cleary (also includes selections from the Zhuangzi).
- The Tao of Peace by Wang Chen and Ralph Sawyer.
- The Way of Lao Tzu by Wing-tsit Chan.
- Tao Te Ching (Taoist Classics) by D.C. Lau.
- Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition by Jonathan Star (this one actually hasn't arrived yet -- I am eagerly looking forward to reading it).
In addition to these translations in book form, I also have three renditions (with another on the way) plus the various online translations noted again in the right sidebar.
Zhuangzi/Chuang Tzu
Zhuangzi/Chuang Tzu
- Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings by Burton Watson.
- The Book of Chuang Tzu by Martin Palmer.
- Chuang Tsu: Inner Chapters by Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English.
- Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries by Brook Ziporyn.
To very roughly paraphrase country singer Johnny Cash,
My name is Tzu. How do you do?
Those are all certainly credible versions. I also like Hu Xuezhi's (although it's very oriented to internal alchemy) because I have actually studied and trained with him, and Roger Ames's (which also has characters), a University of Hawaii professor of Asian philosophy. And I have a French translation which is kind of fun, because I study French as well and it makes a trilingual exercise.
ReplyDeleteBut you also use James Legge...I think of that as sort of the King James version.
Hu Lao Shi is also doing a translation of Zhuangzi, although it probably won't be on the street any time soon. (Or should I say any time tzun/tsun/zin?)
Yesterday, I checked out the Ames copy from the library again as well as one from Raymond Blakney.
ReplyDelete