a lucid translation of the wellknown taoist classic by a leading scholarnow in a shambhala pocket library edition written more than two thousand years ago the tao teh ching or the classic of the way and its virtue is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature traditionally attributed to the legendary old master lao tzu the tao teh ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual today lao tzus words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life to follow the tao or way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility spontaneity and generosity john c h wu has done a remarkable job of rendering this subtle text into english while retaining the freshness and depth of the original a jurist and scholar dr wu was a recognized authority on taoism and the translator of several taoist and zen texts and of chinese poetry this book is part of the shambhala pocket library series the shambhala pocket library is a collection of short portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts the covers in this series are rendered by colorado artist robert spellman the books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work shambhala publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible readerfriendly and applicable to everyday life