Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching, A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts

Robert G. Henricks translated and studied the Mawangdui silk manuscripts of the Tao Te Ching directly, manuscripts excavated from a sealed tomb in 1973 that preserve an older textual arrangement, with the Te section preceding the Tao section, than the arrangement found in the received text most other translations follow. That the translation works from a specific, physically excavated and datable manuscript rather than from the received textual tradition is a real, checkable evidentiary basis. This record has not independently traced a documented history of scholarly disagreement with Henricks's specific readings. Use it for the content and structure of the Mawangdui manuscript version specifically.