Lao Tzu is the reputed founder of Taoism, but there is little evidence that he actually existed. He is said to have been a contemporary of Confucius and to have served as curator of the dynastic archives until retiring to the mythical K’un-lun mountains.

David Hinton has translated many volumes of classical Chinese poetry and is the first translator in nearly two centuries to translate all five of the seminal classics in Chinese philosophy. This work has earned him many national awards in the United States, including a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His book of essays, Hunger Mountain: A Field Guide to Mind and Landscape was on the Guardian’s Best-Books-of-the-Year list.