Tao Te Ching: The Ancient Classic (Capstone Classics) Hardcover – June 18, 2012

These classic books bring you back in time to have a better understanding of the original classics and philosophy.Awesome book

Amazing book. Beyond my expectations

A excellent interpretation of the ancient Chinese classical writing.

There is no shortage of outstanding translations of Lao Tzu's ancient classic and an even greater number of commentaries on what he characterizes as "the timeless, changeless spirit that runs through all life and matter...Being that is all inclusive and that existed before Heaven and Earth."Those who have read one or more of the volumes that comprise Tom Butler-Bowdon's "50 Classics" series already know that he possesses superior reasoning and writing skills as well as a relentless curiosity when conducting research on history's greatest thinkers and their major works. For these and other reasons, I cannot think of another person better qualified to provide the introductions to the volumes that comprise a new series, "Capstone Classics."Unlike so many others, he provides more, much more than a flimsy "briefing" to the given work. In his 32-page Introduction to this edition of Tao Te Ching, Butler-Bowdon discusses subjects and issues such as these in order to create a context, a frame-of-reference, for Lao Tzu's insights:o What is - and isn't - "Tao"o Recognizing and then being in harmony with its powero The value and limits of worldly power, fame, and richeso The need for self-restrainto Why we should treasure simplicity, purity, compassion, economy (i.e. frugality), and humilityo The importance of "not doing" (i.e. wu wei)o The limits and perils of "striving"o Tao Te Ching and Tolstoy's theory of historyo The unique value of timelessnesso Tao Te Ching and Plato's concept of "Forms"o Lao Tzu and ConfuciusWhen concluding his brilliant Introduction, Butler-Bowdon acknowledges attempts by major scholars to understand - and then explain - classic works such as Tao Te Ching:"Yet as Lao Tzu himself implies in the text (`The learned men are often not the wise men, nor the wise men, the learned.'), scholars are usually not good at grasping spiritual concepts, and moreover the Chinese language with its five thousand characters is ill-equipped for expressing the abstract idea of Tao. [Dwight] Goddard was therefore not interested in providing the most pedantically correct translation, but rather to capture the essence of a work he loved."This Capstone edition uses the classic rendering of the Tao Teh Ching in Dwight Goddard & Henri Borel's Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei, New York: Brentano's, 1919. According to Tom Butler-Bowdon, Goddard's approach is the one to take. That's good enough for me.

For readers who want to get the essence of this Chinese classic without having to access the olden text or go through dubious translations, this is the book to get.Chinese classics are usually perceived as being hard to comprehend and cryptic as they were written in an olden style, and I believe that is one of the main reasons for declining interest in ancient classic texts.However, this book proved otherwise- this difficult topic is now easy to read and understand. The ideas were presented in an audience-centric manner. They did a good job in deciphering and distilling the essence of this 'mystical' subject that has withstood the test of many centuries.The ideas were captured well in short paragraphs and the huge concept headings helped in capturing the essence of each subject, making the book enjoyable and understandable.A must-read for those who want to get a quick introduction and insight into this ancient Chinese classic.(An icing to the cake would be to have some Chinese characters for the main topics or the original text to assist bilingual readers to better appreciate the Tao Te Ching; but it has already done its job well)

The author's introduction does a fantastic job of contextualizing and drawing lessons from the text. The text itself is beautifully presented, and the outside of the book is similarly well designed. This is the only translation that I have read and it is fairly clear and accessible.

The book is an interesting reading my only drawback is the front and internal pages are as ordered Tao te Ching where as on the spine it is the prince by Machiavelli

The wisdom contained within the Tao is timeless and indeed references many of indigenous wisdom found across the world, particularly in African proverbs.This is a fascinating book that prompts one to reflect on and assess their very lives, as well as the nature of their social and other relationships...to reflect on their own selves and motivations for self-directed actions.Definitely worth a read!

You might wonder why the book has a paper cover… and why you need to keep it. My copy of Tao Te Ching has “The Prince” on its spine. They should be giving these books away for free, not charging us and hiding the mistake.

The name on the spine is for a different book, the front and contents are correct though

I'm very happy with my purchase, just as expected and would buy from the same seller again.