The Tao Te Ching Book

The Tao Te Ching Book: A Contemporary Introduction for the Curious.

The Tao Te Ching opens by warning that the Tao that can be put into words is not the eternal Tao. Lao Tzu then spends eighty-one chapters putting it into words, and this book, in fairness, does the same. It is written for readers who have met the Tao Te Ching on a bookshelf, in a quote, or on a fridge magnet, and want to know what it actually says and why it has lasted for two and a half thousand years.

Each chapter pairs the verse, in clear contemporary English, with a commentary that is plain-spoken, practical, and occasionally funny. The examples come from offices, kitchens, supermarkets, and the occasional football match. Footnotes explain where the Chinese can be read in more than one way, without slowing the reader down.

This edition includes:

- all eighty-one chapters, each with its own photograph

- verses rewritten in contemporary UK English and gender-neutral language

- a glossary at the front and an introduction at the back

- clickable See also links between related chapters, plus I Ching hexagram pairings for every chapter

The Tao Te Ching Book is a companion to *The I Ching Book: A Contemporary Introduction for the Curious*, and the two can be read together or on their own.

This is the PDF edition, laid out page by page with full-colour chapter photographs. It looks its best on a computer or tablet, and prints beautifully for anyone who likes to read with a pencil in hand. Also available as an EPUB for phones and e-readers, at a big discount when bought together.