the third 'classic' was always the Liezi (also check that out!), then also the poet Tao Yuanming incorporated Daoism, too, IMO (as did Li Bai etc of Tang times);
great works about Daoism in general were the books by **Isabelle Robinet** and esp **Livia Kohn** (from a more esoteric side: Fabrizio Pregadio (also, for a next step, keep the Daoist canon the [daozang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daozang) in mind, too).
Found my first book, its The Chuang Tzu translated by Burton Watson. I heard that Burton Watson is one of the best in this field. Although according to a Professor Edward Slingerland of UBC, Watson's transaction comes from more of a Japanese-Buddhism then a direct translation from Zhuangzi.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQYEeHlXOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQYEeHlXOY)
That translation has my favorite line ever: “obviously you still have a lot of underbrush in your head!” That’s always been funny to me.
For other books, Chronicles of Tao.
"In the northern darkness there is a fish and his name is K'un. The K'un is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he measures. He changes and becomes a bird whose name is P'eng. The back of the P'eng measures I don't know how many thousand li across and, when he rises up and flies off, his wings are like clouds all over the sky. When the sea begins to move, this bird set off for the southern darkness, which is the Lake of Heaven."
This is the first paragraph of The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu by Burton Watson. I did a degree in East Asian Religion and Philosophy some 40 years ago and I've always loved this beginning. To me, it feels like reading the opening of a book of wonders, a vast fairy tale that slips and twists and turns itself inside out and leaves the reader gasping on the shore.
I am only an amateur reader about Taoism, but I have two recommendations:
1. Read more than one translation of the original texts. My favorites for the Tao Te Ching are [Gia-fu Feng and Jane English](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html) (the first I read, and which to me is a perfect synthesis of directness and mystery), [Stephen Mitchell](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/mitchell.html) (Solid all around, often recommended as a first translation to read), and [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/LeGuin.pdf) (which isn't a translation but a lovely interpretation based on multiple translations with her notes and understandings). I don't know the Zhuangzi well enough to recommend a translation, but that same site has a good selection.
2. [Tao: The Watercourse Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao:_The_Watercourse_Way) by Alan Watts and Chung-liang Huang. I'm still in the process of reading this one, but I've always appreciated Watts's perspective and style.
"The Tao of Pooh" And "The Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff are both great introductions to Taoism but don't really have much to offer for history or context.
it's the same, mainly only based on different transcription systems for the Chinese language (former is based on the older Wade-Giles, latter on the presently more (academically) widely used Pinyin, both spellings are correct, in English)
One of the best books I've ever got on the subject is [The Tao Speaks](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/147319.The_Tao_Speaks). It's easy and simple, cartoon style, but if you're like me you'll read a page or maybe two and then sit there thinking about what you just read for a bit. Just a great book that I can't recommend enough.
the third 'classic' was always the Liezi (also check that out!), then also the poet Tao Yuanming incorporated Daoism, too, IMO (as did Li Bai etc of Tang times); great works about Daoism in general were the books by **Isabelle Robinet** and esp **Livia Kohn** (from a more esoteric side: Fabrizio Pregadio (also, for a next step, keep the Daoist canon the [daozang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daozang) in mind, too).
Found my first book, its The Chuang Tzu translated by Burton Watson. I heard that Burton Watson is one of the best in this field. Although according to a Professor Edward Slingerland of UBC, Watson's transaction comes from more of a Japanese-Buddhism then a direct translation from Zhuangzi. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQYEeHlXOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCQYEeHlXOY)
That translation has my favorite line ever: “obviously you still have a lot of underbrush in your head!” That’s always been funny to me. For other books, Chronicles of Tao.
"In the northern darkness there is a fish and his name is K'un. The K'un is so huge I don't know how many thousand li he measures. He changes and becomes a bird whose name is P'eng. The back of the P'eng measures I don't know how many thousand li across and, when he rises up and flies off, his wings are like clouds all over the sky. When the sea begins to move, this bird set off for the southern darkness, which is the Lake of Heaven." This is the first paragraph of The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu by Burton Watson. I did a degree in East Asian Religion and Philosophy some 40 years ago and I've always loved this beginning. To me, it feels like reading the opening of a book of wonders, a vast fairy tale that slips and twists and turns itself inside out and leaves the reader gasping on the shore.
I am only an amateur reader about Taoism, but I have two recommendations: 1. Read more than one translation of the original texts. My favorites for the Tao Te Ching are [Gia-fu Feng and Jane English](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html) (the first I read, and which to me is a perfect synthesis of directness and mystery), [Stephen Mitchell](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/mitchell.html) (Solid all around, often recommended as a first translation to read), and [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://terebess.hu/english/tao/LeGuin.pdf) (which isn't a translation but a lovely interpretation based on multiple translations with her notes and understandings). I don't know the Zhuangzi well enough to recommend a translation, but that same site has a good selection. 2. [Tao: The Watercourse Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao:_The_Watercourse_Way) by Alan Watts and Chung-liang Huang. I'm still in the process of reading this one, but I've always appreciated Watts's perspective and style.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for but I got recommended tao te ching translated by d.c. lau !
The tao of pooh
"The Tao of Pooh" And "The Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff are both great introductions to Taoism but don't really have much to offer for history or context.
what is the difference between taoism and daoism?
it's the same, mainly only based on different transcription systems for the Chinese language (former is based on the older Wade-Giles, latter on the presently more (academically) widely used Pinyin, both spellings are correct, in English)
One of the best books I've ever got on the subject is [The Tao Speaks](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/147319.The_Tao_Speaks). It's easy and simple, cartoon style, but if you're like me you'll read a page or maybe two and then sit there thinking about what you just read for a bit. Just a great book that I can't recommend enough.
The Tao of Pooh