Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching is a collection of eighty-one short chapters that spell out the basis of Taoist philosophy in maddeningly simple terms. Lao Tse (a pseudo-mythical Chinese philosopher of the sixth century BC) is purported to be one of its authors.

There exist many different English translations of the work with many ending up quite different due to the varied obstacles of translation. The foremost of these is the Eastern-Western thought and language barrier, but the striking difference between ancient and modern Chinese languages is also a major factor. Another point of confusion is that the original text attempts to explain many concepts that lacked words in the language it was originally recorded. The foremost of these is "Tao" itself, which is most often translated as "way" or "path" and refers to the natural flow of the universe, which Taoists strive to be in tune with. "Te" is another, and refers to the natural state and energy of a thing, and is often referred to with a metaphor of an "uncarved block."

One translation that brought the work to Western attention was compiled by Aleister Crowley.

Translations

 * Ursula K. LeGuin (probably most faithful to the original feel)
 * Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English (really close, a little more literary)
 * Steven Mitchell