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Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell version)
Verdict: a highly readable first encounter with a primary Daoist classic, provided you understand what kind of version it is.
- Author
- Lao Tzu (Laozi)
- English version
- Stephen Mitchell
- Publisher
- Harper Perennial (HarperCollins)
- Print ASIN
- 0060812451
- Kindle
- Available (B003SHDM8O)
- Level
- Beginner; meditative primary classic
Check edition and availability on Amazon.
View on AmazonView Kindle editionWhat it offers
Plain, poetic, contemporary phrasing makes this best-selling English version a popular gateway to Daoist thought. Themes of naturalness and non-striving connect naturally with the Zen books that precede it.
An important distinction
Mitchell offers a “version,” not a scholarly translation from classical Chinese. Readers who want a more literal rendering should consider D.C. Lau's Penguin edition. Mitchell's readability is precisely why this guide uses it as a first primary text.
Place in the reading order
Read it third: after two explanatory books, but before the academic survey organizes the wider field.
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