德国哲学家雅斯贝尔斯Life老子的生平与著作
“《道德经》的多语种译本世界发行量仅次于《圣经》，曾经是西方“新时代”灵性潮流中备受推崇的经典之一。雅斯贝尔斯，这位德国哲学家，在其哲学史著作《大哲学家》中，对老子的评价尽管偏于理性思辨，仍然不失深刻。”
The Great by Karl
《大哲学家》
雅斯贝尔斯著
英文版翻译 Ralph
中文翻译 王蕾
Lao-tzu
Life and Works
老子
生平与著作
The story of Lao-tzu's life is told by Ssu-ma Ch’ien (c. 100 B.C. ). He was born in the state of Ch'u, in the of Hunan in China. For a time he was state () for the , the Chou . He did his best to live in and to .
司马迁（公元前100年）记述了老子的生平。他出生于现为中国北方河南省的楚国。曾在中央政府—周朝皇帝—任职国家档案管理员（历史学家）。他韬光养晦，默默无闻。
At an age, when in his home state of Ch’u , he . At the of the guard he wrote the Tao Te Ching, in five words. Then he into the West. "No one knows where he ended his life.” -tzu says, , that Lao-tzu died at home, by his .
在年事已高的时候，他的祖国老子经典著作，楚国的境况不堪容忍，于是他西行而去。在守境官员的要求下，他撰写了五千字的《道德经》，然后消失在西方， “不知其所终“。然而，庄子说德国哲学家雅斯贝尔斯Life老子的生平与著作，老子是在家里，在文士的陪伴下去世的。
He is said to have lived in the sixth B.C. (the view, for this alone would make the him and , which put down as ), but other place him in the fifth( Forke) or even the . The will never be with any of . His name is by nor by nor by Mo Ti.
据说他生活在公元前六世纪（这是传统观点，因为这样会使老子和孔子，以及其他一些人之间的对话成为可能，但也有人认为这些对话只是传说），但其它传统观点将他置于五世纪（福克Forke）甚至四世纪。这个问题可能永远不会得到任何确定性的解决。孔子、孟子和墨子都没有提到过他。
In view of the state in which the of that of has come down to us, it seems , at least to an , will ever in the Tao Te Ching by its style with that of other texts. The is for the of the text. The on the bear to the of the .
鉴于从中华文化最伟大的年代流传至今的文献状况，汉学家以风格对比的方式，将《道德经》与其它文本进行比较，来确定其年代的努力，能否成功是令人怀疑的，至少对于圈外人士来说如此。年代对文本的解读并不重要，关于这个问题的讨论，仅仅是见证传统的不确定性。
The of the Tao Te Ching and the of parts have been . , its inner is so that— and —one doubt that it was by a of the rank. The man seems to stand us and speak to us.
《道德经》的作者和某些部分的真实性备受争议。然而，尽管可能存在添加和扭曲，其内在一致性如此令人信服 ，使人无法怀疑其创造者是顶级思想家。他似乎就站在我们面前，与我们说话。
Tao Te Ching, the Book of Tao and Te, is a work of of , into -one short . The no one . , as the end of the " ", there are of . The is at the very and then in .
《道德经》，这部关于“道”与“德”的作品，包含长度不等的格言，分为八十一章，并没有一个系统的排序。有时候在“政治”部分的末尾，有一些相关章节群。其核心在开篇就已有陈述，并随后不断在含义丰富的扩展中重现。
there is no , only of the , of the same idea in gives a of . , there is a unity of which lends to . The power of its ( play or wit), its , and the of a depth make the book one of the works of .
尽管没有思辨的展开德国哲学家雅斯贝尔斯Life老子的生平与著作，只有对完整思想的格言式陈述，其中同一思想以无数变化方式的重现，展示出卓越的一致性。尽管没有系统性的术语，其思想上的统一造就了系统性的解读。其矛盾表达式的力量（并非不严肃或不负责任的油滑）、其热诚和来自于不可测深度的冲击力，使这本书成为不可替代的哲学作品之一。
A can study the text only by the and their . We read Lao-tzu as we read Kant, or . The text does not speak to us in its own , but a media which and it—or on sets it off in too a light. The in one and are , quite in 6: to de Groot it deals of the , in other with the root of the , the “ of the ”, or the “ ”; to Lieh-tzu, to be sure (), the whole is a from an older book; Lao-tzu was in the habit of lines of poems, songs, and hymns. The is to make use of . The of the Tao Te Ching.
一般人只能通过对比大量的翻译和注释来研究文本。我们无法像读康德、柏拉图或斯宾诺莎一样读老子。这个文本无法直接用自己的语言和我们说话，只能通过媒介，而媒介有时会遮云蔽日，也偶尔会增光添彩。翻译文本之间的差距有时是巨大的，特别是第六章：Groot认为，它是讲控制呼吸老子经典著作，其它译本则认为是讲宇宙的根源—“谷神”、“玄牝”；按照列子的说法，准确地说是施特劳斯（）老子经典著作，整章都是引用古书；老子喜欢引用诗歌和圣颂。读者应该参考多个译本。每章有固定序号。
An of Lao-tzu is by a of , of the age in which he lived, of . If we are able here to with a , it is of the of this , which seems true and when apart from its .
对中华思想、老子所处年代以及传承的了解，有助于理解老子。如果这里所作的历史性介绍可以省略的话，则是因为其中形而上思想的超时代性。而此超越性，当脱离其历史背景时，尤其真实感人。