On this site there is at the
moment the text of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.
There are no notes (yet) to it by me.
The translation I used is
James Legge's of 1891, that is available on the
internet at quite a few places.
It is difficult to
understand Tao Te Ching (also for Chinese, I
am assured) but three very good references are these
-
Wing-Tsit Chan: A
Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy
-
Raymond Smullyan: The
Tao is silent
-
Lin Yutang: The
importance of living
The first is by an eminent
Chinese scholar and is about Chinese philosophy in
general, about which it gives a lot of information,
while also providing a lot of sources, often in
Chan's own translations. This also includes his
translation of the Tao Te Ching, with his comments.
The second is by a great
mathematical logician who is partial to Taoism. The
text is his attempt to provide a sort of explanation
of Taoism and his partiality to it.
The third is by a great
writer and fine thinker who had both a Christian and
a Chinese background.
All three give mostly
background - and that is the way to get at Lao Tu's
meaning, which is hard to get and cannot be properly
grasped with words.
