Laozi's Dao De Jing: A New Interpretation for a Transformative Time

(Hardback)

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A fresh, graceful translation of one of the most important and timeless classicsthe foundational work of Daoismby award-winning novelist Ken Liu, who contextualizes and demystifies this famously enigmatic text.

Laozis Dao De Jing was written around 400 BC by a compassionate soul in a world torn by hatred and ambition, dominated by those that yearned for apocalyptic confrontations and prized ideology over experience. By speaking out against the cleverness of elites and the arrogance of the learned, Laozi upheld the wisdom of the concrete, the humble, the quotidian, the everyday individual dismissed by the great powers of the world. Earthy, playful, and defiant, Laozis words gave solace to souls back then, and offer comfort today. Now, this beautifully designed new edition serves as both an accessible new translation of an ancient Chinese classic and a fascinating account of renowned novelist Ken Lius transformative experience while wrestling with the classic text.

Throughout this translation, Liu takes us through his own struggles to capture the meaning in Laozis text in a series of thoughtful and provocative interstitial entries. Unlike traditional notes that purport to be objective, these entries are explicitly personal and unapologetically subjective. Gradually, as Liu learns that true wisdom cannot be pinned down in words, the notes grow sparser until they fade away entirely. His journey suggests the only way out of struggle is to engage with texts that have survived the millennia, wrestling with ideas that gesture at something eternal, in hopes that we might eventually reach that moment of transcendent joy.

Lius translation, by eschewing cleverness, paradoxically reveals the slipperiness of Laozis original. The Dao De Jing has been translated countless times and will be translated countless times in the future. In that constant change and flow, we finally find our home in Dao, the eternal principle that allows us, finite beings in time and space, to reckon and reconcile with the infinite.

Author Bio

Ken Liu is an award-winning American author of speculative fiction. His collection,The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, has been published in more than a dozen languages. Lius other works includeThe Grace of Kings,The Wall of Storms,The Veiled Throne, and a second collectionThe Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He has been involved in multiple media adaptations of his work, including the short story Good Hunting, adapted as an episode in Netflixs animated seriesLove, Death + Robots; and AMCsPantheon, adapted from an interconnected series of short stories. The Hidden Girl, The Message, and The Oracle have also been optioned for development. Liu previously worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. He frequently speaks at conferences and universities on topics including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, the history of technology, and the value of storytelling. Liu lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.