Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Ursula K. Le Guin

In this landmark modern-day rendition of the ancient Taoist classic, Ursula K. Le Guin presents Lao Tzu’s time-honored and astonishingly powerful philosophy like never before. Drawing on a lifetime of contemplation, she offers an unparalleled window into the text’s awe-inspiring, immediately relatable teachings and their inestimable value for our troubled world.

©1997 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)2009 Shambhala Publications

Critic reviews

“Each day I open this book at random and receive a contemplative gift. These words are akin to water in the desert. (Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge)

“The type of work which the great Polish poet and Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska meant when she spoke of ‘that rare miracle when a translation stops being a translation and becomes...a second original.’...The whole of Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching is well worth savoring - as much for the ancient substance as for Le Guin’s stylistic splendor.” (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings)

“A student of the Tao for several decades, Le Guin has created an English text that will speak to modern readers in a fresh and lively way, while conveying the humor, insight, and beauty of the original.” (Lion’s Roar magazine)

“Among the many translations of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin’s new version is a special treasure - a delight. There is something startlingly fresh and creatively alive here, brought forth by Ms. Le Guin’s intuitive and personal ingenuity.” (Chuangliang Al Huang, founder of the Living Tao Foundation and coauthor (with Alan Watts) of Tao: The Watercourse Way)

Breathe in, breathe out.

If you’re having trouble calming down before bed, this is an especially well produced version to listen to of this specific translation.

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching

Very enlightening way of living from almost 3000 years ago. May I learn how to live by the Tao, the WAY.

A treasure.

Read with depth and subtlety, with an atmospheric soundtrack, this interpretation is mesmerising. Love hearing Ursula K Le Guin read, it is a legacy that I am sure will bring great meaning and joy to many.

One of my favorite translations

Years ago I decided to find the best English translation of Dao De Jing. I learned that there are many bad ones, but even the ones that seem to balance well with the impossibility of translating poetic philosophy (or philosophical poetry) like this classic, have all very different approaches. LeGuin's translation is easily one of my favorites. It is the one that seems to go beyond words and talk directly to the experience of living these insightful poems, without becoming a new age cliche (like the awkwardly popular Mitchell translation).

Some translations make me laugh, some make me think, and some make me cry. This has all of those qualities. It will speak mostly to the ones looking for a deep, feminine, wise interpretation of the text. If you are interested in a more literal or academic translation, this is not it. But this is one of the most beautiful, most compassionate and also one of the most understanding English translations of Dao De Jing that I have ever read,

LeGuin's soft, timeless reading is beautiful and gives the text another level of depth. Doesn't matter if you're new to the text of if you already know other translations, this will give you a beautiful perspective into this classic that has changed my life many times, and no doubt will keep on doing so many more times. I can't praise this version high enough!

great translation,

great translation, good narration but i did not care for the background music; finding its volume a distraction and its presence unnecessary