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Secondary sourceBook1891

The Texts of Taoism (Sacred Books of the East)

James Legge · 1891

James Legge's influential 1891 English translation of the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Laozi.

This is a translation of Laozi's foundational text, the Tao Te Ching, central to his identity as founder of Taoism.

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About this source

What it is

This is a Victorian-era English translation of the Tao Te Ching, made by the scholar James Legge and published in the Sacred Books of the East series in 1891. It presents the opening passages on the nature of the Tao.

Why it matters

Legge's translation was one of the first serious scholarly introductions of Laozi's text to English-speaking readers, shaping how the Western world first understood Taoism as a religion and philosophy worth studying alongside other world faiths.

Look closer

  • Why might translating a word like "Tao" be especially difficult?
  • What assumptions might a 19th-century British scholar bring to translating an ancient Chinese text?
  • How does the poetic structure of the opening lines affect how the ideas feel?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Laozi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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