Daodejing

Testo fondamentale del Taoismo, richiederebbe la conoscenza del cinese per essere apprezzato a pieno, dato le significative possibilità di interpretazione di ogni singolo capitolo.

Lao-Tzu - a lui è attribuita senza certezze la composizione di questo testo - reagisce alla decadenza della società cinese in modo opposto da Confucio, ritirandosi dal mondo in favore di una vita di meditazione, parsimonia e tolleranza. Sosteneva l'importanza di un ritorno alle origini, alla madre, alla natura, disprezzando gli artifici degli uomini, il loro voler alterare le leggi della natura.

«Immagina che la gente torni a usare le cordicelle annodate; che trovi buono il proprio cibo, belle le proprie vesti, comode le proprie case, piacevoli i propri costumi.» ( )

A ancient guide towards achieving the mental state necessary for personal and spiritual growth. Yes, I recommend it as well. ( )

Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts (Classics of Ancient China) by Robert G. Henricks (1992) ( )

Mi sobrinito de dos años tiene una copia hermosa del Tao Te Ching que le regalaron cuando nació y varias tardes se lo "lei". Fue interesante ver como esta escrito porque las filosofías orientales no son algo que me suela cruzar mucho en mi día a día.

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way is a rendition by Ursula K Le Guin from many sources of the classic wisdom text about the Tao.

Le Guin's rendition makes some aspects of the poems much more approachable. For example, she avoids use of the term "empire" or masculine-exclusive language in her version, which she intends to be for a wider audience. She provides extensive end notes about the rendition and a list of her sources ranked in order of utility, and many poems have personal commentary about her thoughts on specific poems in the collection. It's a personal project. It's also a fine model of how one might organize one's own similar project, if one were into that, for this or another source material.

However, there's still places for me where I'm totally into it one part, for just one example, the anti-capitalist sentiments, and completely repulsed the next, especially in places where I become uncomfortable or disagree with the ideas of what Lao Tzu thinks is good government, involving, for example, keeping the population in the dark about their true conditions and about the tools used by those in power to manipulate them.

On the whole, it just isn't for me, in spite of a few bright spots. Le Guin's rendition of Tao Te Ching is okay and interesting, but it's not astounding or amazing to me. The intentionality in making the text more approachable is laudable. I think a lot of my issue is with my perception of a weakness of the source material, which just isn't my path or sense of things, though there are a few place where there are hints worth the time to cross the ages and approach the work of Lao Tze as it is, for what it is. It has value, but it doesn't speak to me in a voice with authority or accuracy per se, so have a hard time recommending it for others. But, if you're going to approach this material, this seems like is a fine-enough way to do it.



I made 58 highlights. ( )