The Eternal Tao Te Ching: The Philosophical Masterwork of Taoism and Its Relevance Today

The bestselling author of The Tao of Pooh offers a uniquely authentic translation of the enduring Tao Te Ching, based on the meanings of the ancient Chinese characters in use when the Taoist classic was written.

From Benjamin Hoff, author of The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, which have sold millions of copies worldwide, comes The Eternal Tao Te Ching, a new translation of the Chinese philosophical classic, the Tao Te Ching.

The Eternal Tao Te Ching is the first translation to employ the meanings of the pre-writing brush characters in use 2,400 years ago, when the classic was written, rather than relying on the often-different meanings of the more modern brush characters, as other translations have done. Hoff points out in his chapter notes the many incidents of meddling and muddling that have been made over the centuries by scholars and copyists, and he corrects the mistakes and removes such tampering from the text. Hoff also makes the provocative claim--and demonstrates by revealing clues in the text--that the Tao Te Ching's author was a young nobleman hiding his identity, rather than the long-alleged author, the "Old Master" of legend, Lao-tzu. And Hoff's chapter notes shed new light on the author's surprisingly modern viewpoint. With a selection of lyrical color landscape photographs by the author, this is a unique, and uniquely accessible, presentation of the Tao Te Ching.

Author: Benjamin Hoff
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Published: 12/07/2021
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.85lbs
Size: 9.10h x 7.40w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781419755507

About the Author
Benjamin Hoff is the author of The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet, both of which spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and brought Taoist philosophy to the attention of mainstream America. He is also the author of the highly acclaimed biography of 1920s author Opal Whiteley, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, which won an American Book Award. Hoff lives in Portland, Oregon.