I am currently working on a new translation of the Tao Te Ching which will wholly replace my previous translations.
My first translation of the Tao, called Tao Te Ching; The Definitive Edition, was published in 2000, and contained a) a translation of the text, b) a word-for-word translation, and c) commentaries. My translation in that "edition" was highly interpretive and often strayed from the original text. Thus, in many places, it was more of an interpretive rendering than an actual translation. In my new translation, I stay as close to the original text as possible, and only add slight interpretive fillers when suggested by the text or needed to clarify the ideas being presented.
This new edition also contains a word-for-word translation and commentaries on every verse.
It's important to note that, due to the flexibility of the Chinese, all translations are largely interpretations. If a person reads 20 translations he will find little or non consensus as to an actual translation; what he will find, instead, are many different ways to go about interpreting the verse. Taking this into consideration, I have structured the commentaries as a kind of review and exploration of about 40 translations. (I only consult translations done by Chinese scholars and not any popular versions or interpretive rewordings of previous translations.) In the commentaries section I explain the Chinese characters and sentence structures, then offer my interpretation or "best guess" as to what the line might mean, then show several ways the line has been translated by Chinese scholars. The aim is to give the reader a clear understanding of the Chinese text and a full range of possible ways the text can be translated/interpreted. Hopefully, then, the reader will be position to interpret the text for himself and discover its meaning for himself.
