On Translating the Dark Enigma: The Tao Te Ching

Abstract

This paper explains the methodology used in its author’s recently completed translation of the Tao Te Ching. It addresses the considerations which arise from the historical, cultural, and linguistic distance between this ancient masterpiece and the target language and culture of twenty-first-century Anglo-America. More specifically, comparisons are made with previously published, highly respected translations of this text. Though emphasizing practice rather than theory, the article reflects the broader challenges facing any translation of poetry that crosses multiple time-frames, cultural values, and writing systems as well as languages. David Hinton has referred to the Tao Te Ching as a ‘dark enigma’. This essay tries to elucidate the many levels of darkness that comprise it.