Yuan Dao: Tracing Dao to Its Source (Classics of Ancient China)

Description

In this masterly and first-ever translation of the Taoist text from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) known as Yuan Dao, we find a most welcome addition to the corpus in English of Taoist texts. As translated by Lau, noted interpreter of Chinese philosophy, and Ames (Chinese philosophy, Univ. of Hawaii), also a prolific and respected translator and author on Chinese thought, the language is straightforward yet elegant, the rendition true to all the subtlety of the original. Written around 140 B.C.E., Yuan Dao is a direct descendent of the better-known earlier Taoist texts, the Tao Te Ching and the Chuang-Tzu. Its main tenet is the efficacy of accommodation, as described in the translators' erudite introduction, and which is worthy of study in its own right and manages to interweave the essentials of the text with a succinct explanation of Han linguistic and political principles. The translation is printed on facing pages with the Chinese original, further enhancing the utility of the text. An important document, this work will be of interest especially to Sinologists and devotees of Taoism