I'm going through it again with all the translations I can find. There are significant language differences.
http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Daodejing&no=1
this one is great as you can mouse over the chinese characters to get a definition.
Not yet, as of now I'm reading the Art of War
Wow, that's a great online version, thanks!
I've read a couple of online translations as well as this. I read all the introduction and commentary in the philosophical translation (for pleasure). I will say that you need to be very careful what translation you choose because translators often misconstrue concepts and impose their own culture upon the translation. At worst, this turns into a problem where the author makes Tao into something similar to God. The main issue is the difference between a process ontology and the (much more widely in Western society) subject/predicate dichotomy as the basis for ontology.
Most translations are bad because they cannot escape the subject/predicate way of thinking. To be honest, you can't actually understand the Dao de Jing unless you learn Chinese.
When I first read it, it had a lot of impact on me, but I can't say now. I've struggled significantly with Taoism because I find it so wise yet completely impractical. My basic worldview is too clouded with the view of the world being a cruel, competitive, warlike place to ever really accept Taoism. I tend to think that the Taoists weren't ignorant of how terrible the world can be but that they persisted in their methods in spite of this. To the point that they could accept death peacefully.
I've read a couple of online translations as well as this. I read all the introduction and commentary in the philosophical translation (for pleasure). I will say that you need to be very careful what translation you choose because translators often misconstrue concepts and impose their own culture upon the translation. At worst, this turns into a problem where the author makes Tao into something similar to God. The main issue is the difference between a process ontology and the (much more widely in Western society) subject/predicate dichotomy as the basis for ontology.
Most translations are bad because they cannot escape the subject/predicate way of thinking. To be honest, you can't actually understand the Dao de Jing unless you learn Chinese.
When I first read it, it had a lot of impact on me, but I can't say now. I've struggled significantly with Taoism because I find it so wise yet completely impractical. My basic worldview is too clouded with the view of the world being a cruel, competitive, warlike place to ever really accept Taoism. I tend to think that the Taoists weren't ignorant of how terrible the world can be but that they persisted in their methods in spite of this. To the point that they could accept death peacefully.
I'm going through it again with all the translations I can find. There are significant language differences.
http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Daodejing&no=1
this one is great as you can mouse over the chinese characters to get a definition.
This is cool. Hopefully this can help me improve my chinese.
It's interesting how the chinese seems to be in much simpler language, but can be looked at very deeply; a lot can be inferred. In english, the translation is a lot more detailed; a lot is inferred for you. I feel like there is less interpretation in english.
However, there is also the subtle cultural hints and idioms that get lost in any translation, no matter the language. Not saying those are present in the Tao though.
Do you know Chinese?
You don't understand the Tao Te Ching through reading.
What is the problem with accepting death peacefully?