Folio Society Published Works Number 2206
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching
We buy and sell items like these, so please contact us if you have similar items for sale, and we will make you an offer if we are interested.
To check if we have this item, or similar items, in stock, please click the Check Stock link below. Alternatively, use the links on the left to search our large online database of items for sale, or to visit the rest of the site.
Check Stock
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching (Published in by The Folio Society in 2010. Introduced by Frances Wood. Translated and edited by Arthur Waley. Three-quarter bound in cloth with paper sides. Printed with 'The Old Man of the Southern (Celestial) Pole', by Lü Chi, c. 1490. A famous legend tells of Lao Tzu, who left the royal court some time during the Chou dynasty in the 6th century BC. Stopped by the guardian of the pass who begged the scholar to leave a record of his wisdom, Lao Tzu recited the Tao Tê Ching, which translates as 'The Way and Its Power', went on his way and was never seen again. The Tao Tê Ching is one of the foundation stones of Chinese ethics, culture and philosophy, ranking alongside the great religious works. The oldest extant text, written on slips of bamboo, dates from around 300 BC. No one knows whether one author or several lie behind the legendary figure of Lao Tzu, but beyond question is the lyrical intensity of the 81 short chapters of mystical poetry, which describe the limitless creative force of the Tao - or the Way - and how it may be harnessed. Itself built on Confucianism, the Tao in turn heavily influenced the development of Chinese Buddhism. At its centre lies the system of opposites and paradoxes amongst which the sage, the ruler and the enlightened must find their path of perfect balance. This celebrated translation by Arthur Waley was first published in 1934. Waley, a scholar and sinologist, was a member of the Bloomsbury set with an ear for poetry and language which has rarely been matched. Tao Tê Ching: The Way and Its Power and Its Place in Chinese Thought includes Waley's copious notes, glosses and extensive introductory essay, making it an accessible and authoritative version of one of the world's most important religious and philosophical doctrines. This edition is illustrated with scroll paintings inspired by the Tao Tê Ching, and includes fold-out sections which allow the reproduction of two especially beautiful landscape scrolls. )
