Tao Te Ching: A New Translation with Commentary

I will not comment on Ellen Chen's actual translation of Tao Te Ching other than that there are numerous translations and there is benefit in comparing many of them. Rather I want to warn people about her lengthy introduction/commentary. It is filled with factual errors about Chinese religious belief as well as the nature of religion in general and often cites outdated and unreliable sources.The division she makes of religions into what some philosophers call "life-denying" and "life-affirming" religions is somewhat reasonable and needs to be thought about because there is truth to it. This concept is that that these two types of religious attitdues take different attitudes and approaches towards life, the world, and natural desires/pleasures. Life-denying religions tend towards asceticism and disdain for the world while life-affirming religions see no conflict between worldly life and spirituality and often mix them together.However, it is important not to get stuck in a dualistic mentality about this, since some religions (including Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism) have a mixture of life-denying and life-affirming attitudes, either as separate paths depending on the sect or in an intermingled form. Ellen Chen also has other strange notions such as that life-affirming religions didn't have concepts of afterlife and that there was a "primordial monotheism" before polytheism. These ideas don't have a foundation in honest historical studies and are actually disproven even by some sources she cites such as Mircea Eliade.In any case, Taoism is generally a life-affirming religion although it has variations which are not. But if you really want to understand it, you need to read other, more reliable authors than Ellen Chen. Of course, you need to read source texts like Tao Te Ching, but actually the Taoist Canon has so many books and commentators that normal people need guides. I recommend checking out Hua-Ching Ni, Maoshing Ni, James Miller, Martin Palmer, Eva Wong, Michael Saso, Julia Ching's book "Chinese Religions", and also Victor H. Mair's commentary on Tao Te Ching.

I got this because among the Tao Te Ching scholars it was always being mentioned as an essential version. I can see why they say that, given it is very scholarly and academically sound, but wow.... it is really dry. I consider the Tao Te Ching one of my all time favorite books but I'm halfway through this and it seems like every page is a struggle to get through. The poetry of it seems to have been lost in the attempt to provide the most "accurate" translation.Having said all that if you are interested in learning some history, and are looking to deepen you knowledge of the Tao Te Ching go ahead and get this. Just be prepared for a textbook as opposed to a beautifully flowing sacred text.

I'm not a scholar of the Tao Te Ching, but Chen seems to have researched it extensively. Her analysis holds your attention, and I think that her translation makes more sense than others I have read, but who am I to judge? I highly recommend it if you want to get deep into the subject.

This is by far the best T.T.C. that i have studied. Ellen Chen helps me to understand the difficult crossover from Eastern Philosophy to Western Thinking. A warning for those looking for a quick fix; this is a book to be read over and over , studied and contemplated,footnoted and referenced and above all studied like a line of music or the petals of a flower.

This is an excellent literal translation of the Tao Te Ching, and the commentary is exhaustive. This is definitely NOT for beginners. I would recommend beginners to start with a good commentary that is easier to understand like Derek Lin or Rodney A. Cooper. This is for serious students only. You simply cannot find a more informative commentary than this one. I rate it 5 stars.

I can't believe I paid $10 for this piece of trash. She does not even attempt to look at the original texts that have been found, she just picks and chooses from other translations to fit what she has to say about it. Multiple times she exchanges one character for another, just because "it flows better," when in actuality she is getting rid of a vital character for the reading. She also leaves in a "transliterated" state that makes it impossible to understand what it even says, and then tells you what to think about it instead of letting you think for yourself. It doesn't even help that the kindle version is so riddled with grammatical and spelling errors that I can't even read it half the time. You are better off buying Robert Henricks' version; at least he had the decency to read the original texts and get a native speaker to check his work.

Great translation with priceless commentary Ellen Chen combined with Redpines translation makes for a perfect combo.

I got this book for my Chinese keystone class on the Tao Te Ching, and this was a good translation and commentary. There are tons of good translations, but this one is clear and also gives good commentary on alternative translations of disputed parts, comparing with other common versions. Highly recommend this version.