The foundational text of philosophical Taoism, traditionally attributed to Laozi and dated by most scholars to the 4th century BCE. Eighty-one short verses on the Tao (the Way) and Te (virtue, integrity) that develop a single counter-intuitive position: that yielding outperforms force, emptiness outperforms accumulation, and the sage governs by not interfering. The Stephen Mitchell English version, first published by Harper & Row in 1988, is the most-circulated modern rendering.
After the Bible, one of the most-translated books in the world — over 250 English versions, dozens of which remain in print. Sinologists divide sharply between those who consider Mitchell's poetic 1988 version an interpretation rather than a translation (he does not read classical Chinese; he worked from existing scholarly versions) and those who credit it with bringing the text to the largest English-speaking audience in history. Academic standards favour Hinton, Watson, Lau and Addiss; popular reading favours Mitchell.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
Verse 1
First lines
The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Contents
Book One — Tao (verses 1–37)
Book Two — Te (verses 38–81)
Reception
After the Bible, one of the most-translated books in the world — over 250 English versions, dozens of which remain in print. Sinologists divide sharply between those who consider Mitchell's poetic 1988 version an interpretation rather than a translation (he does not read classical Chinese; he worked from existing scholarly versions) and those who credit it with bringing the text to the largest English-speaking audience in history. Academic standards favour Hinton, Watson, Lau and Addiss; popular reading favours Mitchell. The text itself sits at the root of East Asian philosophy and arguably the entire Western reception of "Eastern wisdom".
Frequently asked
Is Stephen Mitchell's version a translation?
Mitchell does not read classical Chinese; his 1988 version was assembled from existing scholarly translations rather than from the source text. Sinologists generally classify it as an interpretive English rendering. Readers seeking a literal translation typically turn to D. C. Lau, Burton Watson, David Hinton or the Addiss & Lombardo edition.
How is the Tao Te Ching organised?
Eighty-one short verses, conventionally divided into two books: the Tao ching (verses 1–37) and the Te ching (verses 38–81). Most modern editions present them numbered without titles. Mitchell's version is compact — about 113 pages in the Harper Perennial paperback.
Who actually wrote the Tao Te Ching?
Traditional authorship is attributed to Laozi, a 6th-century-BCE archivist. Modern scholarship, citing the Guodian bamboo slips (c. 300 BCE) and stylistic evidence, generally treats the text as composite — assembled over the late Warring States period from multiple hands. The single-author tradition functions as origin myth more than confirmed history.