The Dao De Jing:
A Simplified Character Edition
For Intermediate Students Of Chinese

This edition of the Dao De Jing has been designed for intermediate-level students of Chinese and their teachers. Although the Dao is centuries old, the complete text includes only about 800 different characters, at least half of which in their simplified form should be familiar to many intermediate students of Chinese.

This edition includes a critical introduction to the Dao, which discusses its legendary origins, its meaning, and the discovery of its various manuscripts. It also includes each of the Dao’s 81 chapters, in simplified character and pinyin versions, with notes to explain the classical grammar and sentence patterns that the author or authors used. Finally, this edition includes a glossary of the Dao's 800-plus characters, alphabetically by pinyin.

Unlike most editions of the Dao De Jing, this edition does not include an English translation.  Instead it offers intermediate-level Chinese students the opportunity to read in the original language one of the most important Chinese language texts ever written and to translate it into English.  Translating the individual chapters of the Dao De Jing into your own words is the one of the best ways to appreciate both its beauty and its wisdom. 

TEXT AND GLOSSARY