This translation offers incomparable fidelity to the ancient meanings contained within Tao-te-Ching, the classic account of the primordial wisdom of ancient times.

"Why is a course on ancient Chinese philosophers one of the most popular at Harvard? It's because the course challenges all our modern assumptions about what it takes to flourish. This is why Professor Michael Puett says to his students, “The encounter with these ideas will change your life.” As one of them told his collaborator, author Christine Gross-Loh, “You can open yourself up to possibilities you never imagined were even possible.”...

When I was a boy, I didn't get specific lessons on how to live. I got stories. If I asked why I had to believe some concept, a person like my grandmother might reply with something like, "This is the true because of what happened to the Yellow Emperor," and then the story would follow. What intrigues me is that this habit hasn't changed even after China's revolution, rapid modernization, digital technology, and global culture. People still say, "It's...

The Tao Te Ching is one of the world's oldest and most influential documents. Its view of the mind and its place in the world, paradoxically simple and profound, continue to perplex, excite and inspire today. The Tao Te Ching, also known as The Tao and its Characteristics or The Book of Tao, has traditionally been attributed to Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher of the 6th century BC. The ancient book's exact origins and authorship are still subject...

William Martin turns to the Tao Te Ching and finds that while Taoism is known for its quiet, enigmatic wisdom, the Tao can also have the cleansing force of a rushing river. Through his interpretation of this ancient Chinese text, Martin elucidates revolutionary messages condemning power-seeking and greed. He emphasizes that humans have a "natural virtue" that can help them heal the planet; shows how Taoism's simplicity can be subversive and its flexibility...

Anthology tracing the entire history of Chinese philosophy from Confucianism to contemporary Communism.

"A philosopher and mother mines classic Daoist texts of Chinese philosophy for wisdom relevant to today's parents. The ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius compared children to tender sprouts, shaped by soil, sunlight, water, and, importantly, the efforts of patient farmers and gardeners. At times children require our protection, other times we need to take a step back and allow them to grow. Like sprouts, a child's character, tendencies, virtues,...