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Originally Posted by Starjumper7
My favorite version is the one translated by Gia Fu Feng and with photos by Jane English.
I has the beautiful poetic and mystical feeling of the original, and it is translated in a way, which like the original, embodiess different levels that can be seen by different people, depending on their awareness of and advancement along the Way.
Many of what are called translations are instead interpretations, and a lot of these interpretations are done by people with not too much advancement. Therefore they lack poetic beauty and interpret the chapterss at a low level of awareness, which can restrict a reader's potential to see deeply into the meanings.
Another thing to know is that the translations or interpretations which are done by Westerners can easily miss the all important inflections which a native Chinese speaker will be aware of. This is another reason why I consider this version to be very good.
Tere is a free online version of the Gia Fu Feng translation which you can find by entering Tao Te Ching Gia Fu Feng in to a search engine, and the site is named Terebess Asia Online
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I'd hate to start a scholastic discussion - but i checked your Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translation. - I read through the first 20 chapters and felt like i was reading an editted version of Arthur Waley's translation ... i usually just get through the first chapter of any new translation, and find it bears no comparison with Waley's.
As I say i have no intention of a scholastic debate, but i just wonder if you know about Waley?
I will copy-paste the first chapter for comparison (and for some reason even though i've over 15 posts i still cant post links as newbie)
Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English - 1989 terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html#Kap01
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.
Arthur Waley - 1934 terebess.hu/english/tao/waley.html
The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;
The names that can be named are not unvarying names.
It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;
The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind.
Truly, “Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences”;
He that has never rid himself of desire can see only the Outcomes.
These two things issued from the same mould, but nevertheless are different in name.
This “same mould” we can but call the Mystery,
Or rather the “Darker than any Mystery”,
The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences.