Preface and Acknowledgments 
Historical Introduction 
Historical Context 
The Nature and Applications of the Daodejing 
Philosophical Introduction: 
Correlative Cosmology—An Interpretive Context 
1. Optimizing Experience: This Focus and Its Field 
2. Daoist Cosmology: An Interpretive Context 
3. Getting the Most Out of One's Ingredients 
4. Appreciating the Particular 
5. The Mutual Entailing of Opposites 
6. Aesthetic Harmony 
7. Awareness 
8. The Wu无－Forms 
9. The Wu无 - Forms as "Habit-forming" 
Glossary of Key Terms 
Introduction to the Translation 
Translation and Commentary 
Appendix: The Great One Gives Birth to the Waters 
Thematic Index 
Bibliography of Works Cited 
About the Authors 

   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.