A groundbreaking and superlatively accurate new translation of Laozi’s The Dao De Jing, from the bestselling translator of The Art of War, promising to be the first English edition based on direct translation from the oldest known copies of the ancient Chinese text. One of the most significant and popular books in the history of human thought, and China’s earliest philosophical classic, The Dao De Jing has served for millennia as a brilliant guide to living healthily and happily, to treating the Earth with respect, and to understanding our place in the cosmos. The Dao is as vitally important to today’s world as it was during the Bronze Age, presenting us with clear and unexpectedly sane answers to some of the most pressing questions and challenges of our time. This beloved classic teaches us to become one with nature, with all people, and with the world; with the ultimate intention of illuminating the path to peace and promoting the conditions for harmony—within the self and in the greater world around us. Renowned translator J. H. Huang has spent over two decades researching the Dao, resulting in the most accurate translation to date based on the oldest known transcripts of the text. Huang’s translation is the first to incorporate four major archaeological findings, which have been preserved for millennia in ancient tombs, most of which were only discovered in the late twentieth century: the Guodian Chu slips, the Mawangdui silk texts, the Fu Yi version, and the Peking University bamboo slips. Huang argues that these key source materials “contextualize The Dao De Jing much in the same way the Dead Sea Scrolls illuminate the New Testament.� The result is a groundbreaking translation that offers readers the first opportunity in over two millennia to thoroughly comprehend all of the teachings contained in these eighty-one chapters. 

The publication of this volume coincides with the 55th anni versary of the discovery of the neutron and Landau's suggestion at the time that one could make stars out of the new particles. This year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the detection of Sco X-I, the first known X-ray binary system, and follows by just twenty years Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of that "little bit of scruff" o her chart record that led to the recognition of radio pulsars. As Q. Y. Qu, President of Nanjing University noted in his welcoming address, however, Chinese astronomers have been observing the consequences of neutron star formation for several millenia. It was appropriate, then, that this Symposium, the first Interna tional Astronomical Union meeting ever to be held in the Peoples Republic of China, be devoted to the topic of neutron stars. IAU Symposium Number 125, "The Origin and Evolution of Neutron Stars," was convened on the morning of May 26, 1986 at Nanj ing University, Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China. One hundred and thirty-nine participants from fifteen countries, including over eighty-five scientists who were visiting China for the first time, met each day for the following week to discuss where neutron stars come from, how they evolve, and where they go. The meeting was judged, by unanimous acclaim of the participants, to be a scienti fic, cultural, and culinary success."

The publication of this volume coincides with the 55th anni versary of the discovery of the neutron and Landau's suggestion at the time that one could make stars out of the new particles. This year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the detection of Sco X-I, the first known X-ray binary system, and follows by just twenty years Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of that "little bit of scruff" o her chart record that led to the recognition of radio pulsars. As Q. Y. Qu, President of Nanjing University noted in his welcoming address, however, Chinese astronomers have been observing the consequences of neutron star formation for several millenia. It was appropriate, then, that this Symposium, the first Interna tional Astronomical Union meeting ever to be held in the Peoples Republic of China, be devoted to the topic of neutron stars. IAU Symposium Number 125, "The Origin and Evolution of Neutron Stars," was convened on the morning of May 26, 1986 at Nanj ing University, Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China. One hundred and thirty-nine participants from fifteen countries, including over eighty-five scientists who were visiting China for the first time, met each day for the following week to discuss where neutron stars come from, how they evolve, and where they go. The meeting was judged, by unanimous acclaim of the participants, to be a scienti fic, cultural, and culinary success."

Sun-tzu's The Art of War is the classic work on strategic thinking. Throughout recorded history, Sun-tzu's wisdom, rules, and philosophy have been eagerly embraced by warriors, leaders, and gentle contemplators alike.

This edition is an entirely new text based on manuscripts discovered in Linyi, China, in 1972 that predate all previous texts by as many as one thousand years. To better convey Sun-tzu's original intent, translator, researcher, and interpreter J. H. Huang traced the roots of the language to Sun-tzu's own time--before 221 b.c. In addition to his wonderfully clear interpretation, Huang gives readers an introduction to the history behind The Art of War, includes six appendices--five of which were uncovered at Linyi and are not available in any other edition--and offers his own insightful comments on the meaning of the text.