Julius Evola
Gathered here in one volume are the two Evolian interpretations from 1923 and 1959 of this masterpiece of Eastern wisdom, the Tao-tê-Ching. One of the major spiritual texts of the Far East, it contains a particular reformulation of the ancient doctrine of the Tao – the Principle, the “Way” – in terms of both metaphysics and the presentation of a higher human ideal (the “Real Man”).
It is well known that the Chinese language is ideographic, so for this reason alone the terms admit of different interpretations. This is even more true in Lao-tze’s text, given the elliptical and often “hermetic” character of his maxims. Thus in Taoist schools a disciple’s degree of maturity was measured by the increasingly deeper meanings he or she had gradually been able to grasp by studying the text and meditating on it.
In presenting it to the Italian public, Julius Evola held himself to the highest level of interpretation, also using, in the commentary, quotations from the works of the main Fathers of Taoism – Lieh-tze and Chaung-tze – for a more complete framing, while in the introductory study he indicated the spirit and essential aspects of Taoism in general.