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.

安樂哲（RogerT．Arues）：夏威夷大學中國哲學教授，《東西方哲學》主編。發錶過一些關於古典儒傢思想研究的著作，其中包括《孔子哲學思微》（ThinkingThroughConfuCius，與郝大維閤著）；英譯《孫子兵法》（Sun-tzu：TheArtofWarfare），該書被認為是當代中國軍事、哲學研究裏程碑式的著作；與羅思文閤譯的《論語》（TheAnalectsofConmdus）亦是已獲得廣泛認可的權威教材。

郝大維（DavidL．Hall）：埃爾帕索一得剋‘薩斯大學哲學教授。早期從事美國哲學的研究，隨後開始重新思考現有對道傢哲學和古希臘哲學的理解和認識，進而齣版瞭這一思考的成果《莫測的永生》（TheUncertainPhoienix）和《愛欲和反諷》（Erosandarony）。在進行古典中國哲學詮釋性研究的同時，仍繼續從事對美國哲學的研究，齣版瞭《新實用主義的導師、詩人：理查德·羅蒂》（Richard Rorty：Prophet and Poet of the New Pragmatism）。