Reflect upon the wisdom within this translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Lao-Tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching nods at the basic predicatment of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how we work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love, to childrearing, business, and ecology.

The Tao Te Ching is the most widely traslated book in world literature, after the Bible. Yet the lucidity of the original has eluded most previous translations, and they have obscured some of its central ideas.

JAMES LEGGE was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong, and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University. In association with Max Muller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.

James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong, and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University. In association with Max Muller he prepared the monumental Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.