The Original Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching is one of the most beloved books of Eastern wisdom. It is ascribed to Lao Tzu, “Master Lao,” identified as Lao Tan, an archivist of the Chou dynasty in pre-imperial China. The book was reorganized several centuries later, and thousands of commentaries were written on it. Ancient versions discovered in the twentieth century follow the old order as confirmed by the earliest extant commentary, Interpreting Lao, written by the famous philosopher Han Fei in the third century BC. The present translation is based on these ancient texts.