Laotzu's Tao and Wu Wei By Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel [1919]

Why post yet another translation of the Tao te Ching? This one is by Dwight Goddard, the author of A Buddhist Bible, and it is a very transparent and readable version. This translation was the predecessor of one which Goddard slipped into later editions of the Buddhist Bible, one of the few explicitly non-Buddhist texts in that collection. The versions of the Tao te Ching already online are by 19th century scholars who, although very capable, tend to be a bit pedantic. The concepts of Taoism are very lucid, and wrapping them in too much verbiage, as Legge et al did, add an unneeded layer of obscurity. Goddard, who was a Zen Buddhist and studied eastern philosophy extensively, comes much closer to the essence of the text, even if he occasionally moves portions of it around. This book also includes a translation of an extended essay by Henri Borel on Taoist philosophy and aesthetics.

--John Bruno Hare, September 17th, 2004.

Note: the second edition of this book, published in 1939, with a very different translation of the Tao te Ching, is also available at this site.

Tao Teh King

Wu Wei