Deng Ming-Dao - Each Journey Begins with a Single Step: The Taoist Book of Life

Advance Praise for Each Journey Begins With a Single Step In this compendium of translations from the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching), the Yijing (I Ching), Chinese proverbs, the Book of Rites, Analects, the poetry of Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, and others, Deng Ming-Dao has given us a great wisdom book of Chinese philosophy and poetry, of political values and religious thought. At the center of the book is the Tao, a way of seeing and a way of being. Deng Ming-Dao's masterful translations demonstrate what mindfulness is. This is a book to keep near and to savor, to return to again and again, each page a step into the journey. Joe Stroud, author of In the Sleep of Rivers; Signatures; Below Cold Mountain; Country of Light; and Of This World: New and Selected Poems Deng Ming-Dao is a canny, discerning guide through the deep wisdom contained in the foundational texts of Chinese thought and philosophy. Rendered in lustrous and compelling new translations, Deng here offers readers the complete Daodejing interspersed with complementary selections from the Yijing, the Analects, the Book of Rites, as well as Chinese poems, proverbs, and treatises.

From these many sources, Deng has assembled a compelling tapestry, a subtle and lucid compendium that can be read as a map, though it leads to no preordained destination. A sage fellow traveler, Deng knows that the journey is all, and with Each Journey Begins With a Single Step he offers his heart and his hand to anyone who would follow the same road. This book is a precious gema gift to anyone who would follow the Tao for life. Gary Young, author of Hands; The Dream of a Moral Life; Days; Braver Deeds; No Other Life; Pleasure; Bear Flag Republic: Prose Poems and Poetics from California; and Even So: New and Selected Poems A marvelously engaging and innovative omnibus! Deng Ming-Dao maps here the way of China's perennial philosophies. A wise and trusty mentor, he lets the landscape, within us all and all around us, speak for itself, so that we may each find our own way with this timeless guide. Gary Gach, author of Pause, Breathe, Smile The poeticality and spiritual depth of Deng Ming-Dao's writing inspires the reader to believe that wisdom will save humanity from self-destruction.

The Taoist artist's translation of the Daodejing and other ancient Chinese works provides a new and thought-provoking approach to the Truth, known and still unknown... Larisa Segida, author of Berries: 210 Thoughts and Photographs on Life, Love and Light As a poet, I appreciate the complexity, simplicity, and mystery of these verses. As a man who devoted a great deal of his life to athletics, I was moved profoundly by the physical and organic nature of the imagery. I bare my chest to the living clouds/strain my eyes toward the birds flying home/I will climb to the very summit/and shrink many mountains within a single glance. When I read from The Song of Practicing the Thirteen Dynamics, from Shanxi Wang Zongye's Taijiquan Treatise, I thought these words should be compulsory reading for every aspiring athlete. There is great wisdom in this collection.

Deng Ming-Dao's translations need to be kept at one's bedside for reading before sleep and for reading the moment one awakes. One could not end the day or begin the day in a better way. Tom Meschery, author of Over the Rim; Caught in the Pivot: The Diary of a Rookie Coach in the Exploding World of Pro Basketball; Nothing We Lose Can Be Replaced; Some Men; Sweat: New and Selected Poems About Sports Other books by Deng Ming-Dao The Chronicles of TaoThe Wandering TaoistSeven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy SatchelGateway to a Vast WorldScholar Warrior365 TaoEveryday TaoZen: The Art of Modern Eastern CookingThe Living I ChingThe Lunar TaoThe Wisdom of the Tao Copyright 2018 by Deng Ming-Dao All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, llc. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Cover design by Deng Ming-Dao Cover image: Dream Journey among Rivers and Mountains, Number 150, by Cheng Zhengkui (16041676).

Dated 1662. Handscroll, ink and color on paper. Overall including mount, 36.8 921.7 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Interior image: Remote View of Streams and Hills, by Xia Gui (fl. 11951224).

Handscroll, ink on paper, 46.5 889.1 cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. Interior design by Deng Ming-Dao Typeset by Side By Side Studios, San Francisco, CA Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.
Charlottesville, VA 22906
Distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC www.redwheelweiser.com SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER AND SPECIAL OFFERS BY GOING TO WWW.REDWHEELWEISER.COM/NEWSLETTER. ISBN: 978-1-57174-838-6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request. Printed in Canada MAR 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In the sixth century BCE, an imperial archivist, philosopher, and teacher named Laozi decided to leave his declining country. Within fifty years, his homeland would be consumed as seven major and four minor states fought to conquer one another.

The ensuing 254 years of intrigues and battles gave the era its name: the Warring States (475 221 BCE). Records tell us that Laozi, whose name literally means Old Master, was wise enough that Confucius himself discussed philosophy with him. Both men worked to define the right ways of living and governance. However, the two men had different approaches. Confucius believed in the rites; he wanted to bring order through a system of rigid social relationships. In contrast, Laozi believed in Taomeaning the Way; he felt that society was intrusive and that it distorted human purity.

People should instead follow a natural and simple way of life. Both men strived for peace and order even as their country fell apart. Confucius responded to this by trying to find a ruler who would put his ideas into practice. Laozi, who wrote know when enough is enough, withdrew from his responsibilities, mounted a water buffalo, and rode the many miles to the western border. That was the edge of the civilized world as he knew it. Only vast mountains and plains sparsely populated with nomadic tribes lay beyond the border.

At the garrison pass, a guard named Yinxi recognized Laozi. He begged the great teacher to leave a record of his wisdom. In response, Laozi wrote the Daodejing and instructed this last disciple before he rode through the fortified gates. In that book, Laozi wrote the famous line, A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. What must he have been thinking as he went into the wilderness? What compassion did he show for Yinxi, and, by extension, all who read his book, that he paused before taking this last journey? He clearly meant his words as a guide, because he knew that generations of people would follow him. That's how we step outside each day as we journey through a world of unknowns.

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