THE WAY AND ITS VIRTUE
Dao De Jing道德經
Eighty-one short chapters. Read slowly, make a note, and return to what stays with you.
The Dao · Chapters 1–37
The De · Chapters 38–81
About these texts
The Chinese follows the Wang Bi recension in the Sibu Beiyao edition, transcribed on Wikisource. The English is James Legge’s translation.
They are paired by chapter number. Wording and punctuation can differ between editions. The historical text and translation are distinct from any AI reflection.
The Chinese transcription is adapted by extracting chapter text and omitting commentary. Editorial contributions are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; the historical work is public domain. English source: Project Gutenberg, ebook 216; the underlying Legge translation is public domain in the USA.