Short description
Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" is an important text in Chinese spirituality. David Hinton's translation aims to offer new interpretations of the text, revealing it as a work of deep environmental and feminist thought.
Long description
Having masterfully translated a wide range of ancient Chinese poets and philosophers, David Hinton is uniquely qualified to offer the definitive contemporary English version of the Tao Te Ching, rendering it with both philosophical rigor and poetic elegance.. Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is not only the single most important text in Chinese spirituality, it is probably the most influential spiritual text in human history. Like all of his translations, Hinton's translation of the Tao Te Ching is mind-opening. It adds startling new dimensions to this text, revealing it as the originary text of deep environmental and feminist thought. In the past, virtually all translations of this text have been produced either by sinologists having little poetic facility in English, or writers having no ability to read the original Chinese. Hinton's fluency in ancient Chinese and his acclaimed poetic ability combine both of these essential qualifications. Together, they allow a breathtaking new translation that reveals how remarkably current and even innovative this text is after 2500 years.
Review
"[An] enormously moving first novel. An unsentimental testament to resilience and mettle. A triumphant novel." --Newsday; "[A] novel with passionate, urgent grace." --Boston Globe; "Beautiful and excited in every way-in character, and theme, setting Elizabeth Hay firmly in the company of such other writers as Margaret Atwood and Carol Shields." --New Orleans Times-Picayune