In 1993, archaeologists unearthed a set of ancient bamboo scrolls that contained the earliest known version of the Dao de jing. Composed more than two thousand years ago, this life-changing document offers a regimen of self-cultivation to attain personal excellence and revitalize moral behavior. Now in this luminous new translation, renowned China scholars Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de jing into our contemporary world.

In this elegant volume, Ames and Hall feature the original Chinese texts of the Dao de jing and translate them into crisp, chiseled English that reads like poetry. Each of the eighty-one brief chapters is followed by clear, thought-provoking commentary exploring the layers of meaning in the text. This new version of one of the world’s most influential documents will stand as both a compelling introduction to Daoist thought and as the classic modern English translation.

安乐哲（RogerT．Arues）：夏威夷大学中国哲学教授，《东西方哲学》主编。发表过一些关于古典儒家思想研究的著作，其中包括《孔子哲学思微》（ThinkingThroughConfuCius，与郝大维合著）；英译《孙子兵法》（Sun-tzu：TheArtofWarfare），该书被认为是当代中国军事、哲学研究里程碑式的著作；与罗思文合译的《论语》（TheAnalectsofConmdus）亦是已获得广泛认可的权威教材。

郝大维（DavidL．Hall）：埃尔帕索一得克‘萨斯大学哲学教授。早期从事美国哲学的研究，随后开始重新思考现有对道家哲学和古希腊哲学的理解和认识，进而出版了这一思考的成果《莫测的永生》（TheUncertainPhoienix）和《爱欲和反讽》（Erosandarony）。在进行古典中国哲学诠释性研究的同时，仍继续从事对美国哲学的研究，出版了《新实用主义的导师、诗人：理查德·罗蒂》（Richard Rorty：Prophet and Poet of the New Pragmatism）。