Book Review: Tao Te Ching

By Lao Tsu
Reviewed by Annie Hubble
from the April 2003 Newsletter

Actually “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tsu, is a book that I would not presume to ‘review.’ It is one I go to once in a while for wisdom and a reminder. Lao Tsu, an older contemporary of Confucius, was keeper of the imperial archives in the province of Loyang in the sixth century BC. He always taught that ‘The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao’ (in fact those are the opening words of his work). But legend has it that as he rode into the desert to die—tired of the ways of man—he was persuaded to write down his teachings.

This particular translation that I have is by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, with photographs by Jane English. It was published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, New York, in September, 1972.

Gia-Fu lived in Manitou Springs, Colorado, in the 70s while I was there also, in my young twenties. I used to see him striding across the mountain trails when I was hiking, or walking up and down the streets of that mountain town. At that time he directed the Stillpoint Foundation, a Taoist community, in Manitou Springs. During the 18 months I lived in that town, I had several opportunities to chat with him (these chats happened in very Zen fashion...in caves in the mountains when groups of individual hikers were finding shelter from sudden storms, on visits to Stillpoint, or meeting on the many hills of Manitou) and he struck me as a very wise man. I like his book translations, and the books also have beautiful photographs taken by Jane English, mostly of Colorado and California, all well chosen to match the words.

Sometimes, feeling the heaviness of these times we live in, I open the book at random, and here are lines I recently came across. They ring true, not only regarding world-wide events, but also in our private lives. These particular lines are a selection from entry # 31:

Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them.
Therefore followers of Tao never use them.

Weapons are instruments of fear; they are not a wise man’s tools.
He uses then only when he has no choice.
Peace and quiet are dear to his heart,
And victory no cause for rejoicing.
If you delight in victory, then you delight in killing;
If you delight in killing, you cannot fulfill yourself.

When many people are being killed,
They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow.
That is why a victory must be observed like a funeral.

This is a wonderful book, able to be visited over and over, in a search for some kind of peace and wisdom.

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