Dr. Totton and Tod have a rare interview with best-selling author Benjamin Hoff who introduced millions to Taoism with his popular books “The Tao of Pooh” and “Te of Piglet.” Now, after a nearly 30-year hiatus, Hoff is back with “The Eternal Tao te Ching: The Philosophical Masterwork of Taoism and its Relevance Today.”
In this interview, we discuss some major discoveries that Hoff made while making his own translation of the “Tao Te Ching.” Including chapters he doesn’t believe are written by “The Old Master” and who the true identity of the original author.
You can purchase his book here.
Audacious translation, I got my copy but have yet to read it. I’m surprised even the Chinese scholars haven’t caught this, that means there’s a translation of Tao Te Ching into modern Chinese that needs to be written.
I really like Derek Lin’s translation. Because he grew up being comfortable speaking both Chinese and English, I think he really gets the text. I do believe he also understands ancient Chinese characters. Another translated text that I found really explained the Tao de Ching well is the one written by that other Benjamin, the Dude de Ching by Oliver Benjamin! Looking forward to reading Benjamin Hoff’s translation, I really enjoyed his other books.
I also like Derek Lin’s translation a lot. He grew up speaking both Chinese and English, so he is in a good position to deliver an authentic translation (I do believe he is also comfortable with ancient Chinese characters). And I like that other Benjamin’s interpretation of the Tao te Ching too, Oliver Benjamin’s The Dude te Ching (quite illuminating!),
I started listening to this one and was loving it, but stopped at the 15 minute mark because I was getting a strong sense that this will be much more meaningful to listen to once I’ve already read the book – can anyone confirm this?
Thanks!