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Preface There are well over two hundred English translations of the Tao Te Ching. Most of them are exceptional works that serve as a gateway to Taoism. The reason why I think it is necessary to make another translation is because most of these existing translations work more like a paraphrase of the original text. The Tao Te Ching is written in a very loose manner where each verse is open to interpretation. Combined with the fact that most of the Western translators did not u

There is a Chinese Ouija board game called Bi Xian, the pen fairy, where two persons hold a pen firmly with one hand and summon the spirit nearby to answer questions by writing down the answers on the paper underneath. People who experienced it the first time are oftentimes spooked because they all swear that they did not move the pen, yet the pen can write down the answer to the question in perfectly intelligible Chinese. So is there really a spirit that possesses the pen an

道 (Tao/Dao) 可 (can) 道 (speak/tell) 也 (particle: assertive)，非 (not) 恆/常 (eternal/unchanged) 道 (way/words) 也 (particle: assertive)。 Tao can be told, (but) not (with) the unchanged way (of words)*. Translator’s Note: A thing called 道 (Tao or Dao) can not be described directly; therefore, whatever is taught in this scripture serves only as an aid to understanding it. The first rule in understanding Tao is not to pertain to certain words, but to seek what the words are trying to d