*this document attempts to draw the texts of several popular english translationsof lao tse into a consistent and accessible context. it is based on thetranslations of robert g. henricks, lin yutang, d.c. lau, ch'u ta-kao,gia-fu feng & jane english, richard wilhelm and aleister crowley.

 this work is not a translation, but an interpolation. it doesnot represent the original text; the original, if there was an original,has been jumbled, mistranscribed and reinterpreted many times over manythousands of years, and is here cast into a language that is incapableof presenting its poetic structure and philological connections.

 even an original text, translated as faithfully as possible, mightremain inaccessible to the modern reader unable to place it within itsoriginal context. the intention of this work is to construct a documentthat closely corresponds with the best modern translations of lao tse,but which is blunt, easy and useful to read within a modern context.

 
structural changes

the last three lines of chapter 28 have been moved to the end of chapter　27.
the last three lines of chapter 39 have been moved to the end of chapter 26.
the last three lines of chapter 47 oppose most translations.
the first three lines of chapter 54 have been moved to the start of chapter 38.
the last two lines of chapter 55, a repetition of the last two lines ofchapter 30, have been removed.
the first line of chapter 60 has been moved to the start of chapter 59.
chapter 64 is split into two chapters, 64a and 64b.
in chapter 64a the order of the second and third paragraphs is reversed.
the last four lines of chapter 67 have been moved to the start of chapter 68.