Daode jing: A Daoist Contemplative Translation

An abridged edition of the landmark Dàodé jīng 道德經: A Contextual, Contemplative, and Annotated Bilingual TranslationThe present book is an abridged edition of Louis Komjathy’s landmark Dàodé jīng 道德經: A Contextual, Contemplative, and Annotated Bilingual Translation (Square Inch Press, 2023). Responding to requests from readers and teachers for an accessible, affordable, and reliable general-audience translation, Dàodé jīng: A Daoist Contemplative Translation distills its more technical predecessor and companion publication. It consists of a new concise and framing introduction, the original bilingual translation, three appendices, and suggestions for further reading. Advancing a sophisticated revisionist view of the classical Chinese Daoist source-text as multivocal anthology, the introduction discusses the inner cultivation lineages of classical Daoism, with a specific emphasis on apophatic and quietistic (emptiness-/stillness-based) meditation as its contemplative core. As the Book of Venerable Masters, this received Daoist classic contains historical and textual layers dating from the fourth to second century BCE and consists of teachings and practices associated with various anonymous Daoist elders. The introduction is followed by the bilingual Chinese-English translation of the standard received text of the Dàodé jīng 道德經 (Tào-té chīng; Scripture on the Dao and Inner Power). This is the received Wáng Bì 王弼 edition (DZ 690; LZ* 12; ZH 560) as preserved and transmitted in the Dàozàng 道藏 (Daoist Canon), the primary Daoist textual collection. The book also includes three appendices: (1) The Seven Core Contemplative Chapters of the Dàodé jīng; (2) Practice Principles in the Dàodé jīng; and (3) Meditation Ciphers in the Dàodé jīng. Drawing upon the author’s pioneering New Daoist Studies (NDS) approach, the book concludes with a further reading section that not only points towards supplemental topic-specific publications, but also encourages readers to consider contexts of reception, interpretive legacies, and translation theory and method. Dàodé jīng: A Daoist Contemplative Translation in turn offers a reliable translation, informed by and informing Daoist contemplative hermeneutics, that enables deeper engagement with the classical Chinese Daoist source-text. While primarily intended for teachers, students, and general readers in more formal learning settings, the book also may be satchelled and disseminated as a companion for self-study and backcountry travel. Read more