81 Chapters: The Book

I used AI to make the translation of the Dao De Jing I wanted. To be clear, there is no AI in the app. I used AI for translation, but the app contains the text in written and spoken form. That's it. I can't read ancient Chinese. But even after crosschecking everything multiple times, I went through the translations line by line. I'm sure there are mistakes. If you find one, write to me and tell me the chapter and what you think. I pulled all the available original ancient Chinese sources and systematically translated each chapter. I built the translation line by line, chapter by chapter, keeping consistency and considering context. I think I got it right. Some of it went directly to English easily from the text, some I was able to shape into what made sense with context and interpretation, and some of it is going to take me a lifetime to understand. It's amazing how simple the Tao is in some places, and how ineffable the mystery is in others. To aid understanding and give greater context to the text, I ended up with three separate translations that you can switch between in order to look at a chapter from different angles. The Literal translation stays as close to the original Chinese line as possible; I wanted that in my translation, for authenticity. The Consensus translation uses commentary and scholarship to make some of the imagery understandable. The Wild translation goes for alternative meanings and more vivid imagery. None of these are intended as a final translation, or a definitive one. They all work from the same characters and the same lines, and each is a defensible presentation of the text. You can toggle through the translations on any chapter, and each one is consistent throughout in how it renders the characters and phrases that echo across the Dao. In this app the whole Dao De Jing is one page. Eighty-one chapters in a single scroll. Touch one and it opens where it sits. No menus, no second screen, nothing to navigate back from. You can also keep track of the ones you like or want to come back to. Your preferences are saved nowhere but your phone, and I'll never know which ones you love or are puzzled by unless you write me and tell me. If you take things in better by ear, I've also had each chapter, in each translation, read aloud by an AI voice. Sometimes I find that listening to the Dao lands differently for me than reading it. This comes with your purchase. No internet is needed to hear the recordings. HOW I MADE IT I was able to work from original sources of the Dao rather than from other translations. My sources included the Guodian bamboo slips, the Mawangdui silk manuscripts, the received text in the Wang Bi and Heshang Gong recensions, and the early writers who quote the Dao De Jing before it settled: Han Feizi, Zhuangzi, Liezi, Huainanzi. Where they disagree, I worked with several different AI systems to crosscheck, edit, audit, and ultimately to decide what direction to go. WHAT IT DOESN'T DO This app requires no internet to run and I collect no data from you. No account, no sign-in, no analytics, no tracking, no advertising, no third-party code watching you read. No microphone. No AI in the app. The whole book and every recording are already inside the app when you open it. You can mark the chapters you like with a heart. It stays only on your phone, and deleting the app deletes it. One price, once. No subscription, no ads, no paywall. Well, if you haven't been able to tell already, translating the Dao has been a labor of love, and in the spirit of Chapter 62, my opportunity to offer the Way to you. I'll be pleased if this is a commercial success, but even if it just helps you, I'll be satisfied. If you enjoy my app, please look at my other 81 Chapters apps that are coming out of this translation project.