Best English version coming thru
There isn't a whole lot to make sense of. Pretty basic concepts. I pick it up every now and then for relaxy time.
>>9385599
Learning Chinese is literally a lifelong endeavor, don't bother just to read one book. In any case it's written in classical Chinese which is different to modern Mandarin.
The D.C. Lau translation is one of the more scholarly and accurate ones.
>>9385599
Your pic related is a good beginner translation. A little more modern, but very readable and easy to understand. And yes, I recommend everyone should read the Tao, but learning Chinese is not necessary.
>>9385599
Learning Chinese is impossible for English speakers without ungodly amounts of time and effort. In that time you could learn French, German, Spanish, and Latin.
The Tao Te Ching is complete nonsense
Even in the original quotes they acknowledge that it is not possible to understand what is meant
>>9385736
Can confirm
t. Taiwanese
Most ancient Chinese literature are mindless circlejerks
>>9385599
It's entirely different from normal Western philosophy. To get an idea of what it, and pretty much all, Eastern spiritual thought is, look to the Eleatics. If you like the Tao The Ching you should grab a copy of The Upanishads by Easwaran; same stuff.
>>9386442
No need to learn Chinese. You'll understand it. Read it a few times, if necessary.
>>9385614
This is the translation philosophy departments use
Steven Mitchell basically paraphrases it, I personally wouldn't recommend him.