The oral tradition of China and Taoism in one book! True words are not beautiful. Beautiful words are not true. He who has virtue does not talk much. He who talks much does not have virtue. He who knows the Tao is not learned; he who is learned does not know it.

Oxy Publications, through the Selected series, presents a new edition and translation of one of the most widely read books in history. The Tao Te Ching (The Book of the Way and of Virtue), the cornerstone of Taoism in East Asia, is not a book for you to "improve" yourself, nor is it a "dazzling" westernized text that in some way reflects the wisdom of ancient Chinese culture.

Consisting of approximately 5000 ideograms and written in the 6th century BC by the mythical Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (the "Unfathomable Dragon of the Sky," according to a saying attributed to Confucius), the Tao Te Ching took its final form two to three centuries later and still holds the keys to Eastern philosophy by teaching the Way: the adaptation of primordial knowledge to the experience of reality – in simple terms, the essence and harmony.

Author biography: The Tao philosopher and mythical author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu or Lao Ju (Lao-Tzu; in Pinyin dialect Laozi; in Chinese Master Lao) likely lived in the 6th century BC, and what we know about him comes from Chinese tradition and much later biographies, which identify him as the archivist of the Emperor of China (Zhou dynasty) and a scholar of sacred teachings. According to legend, upon completing the writing of the Book of the Way (Tao King) and the Book of Virtue (Te King), he vanished riding a buffalo and lived to be 200 years old without anyone seeing him again. The Tao Te Ching is the most widely read book in the Chinese language.