Because the Daodejing is written in poetic form with evocative language, I did find it to be somewhat challenging to translate. Having multiple translations to choose from definitely helped, though, and I found it interesting to compare and contrast and find similarities and differences among the various translations. The Stephen Addiss translation breaks the core lessons contained in the Daodejing up into several sections, which I thought was a helpful way to keep track of the various principles. Patience, compassion, and good deeds were a few of the values that were touched upon, as well as ideas of good vs. not good, beauty vs. ugliness, etc., which were also included in Charles Wu’s translation of the book. Something I appreciated in Charles Wu’s translation that differed from the Stephen Addiss version was that it also included commentary on the background of the Daodejing and of the book itself. He also explained very clearly how Daodejing can be divided into two parts, Dao and wuwei, and goes on to explain both of these key concepts in more detail. He explains how the issues of Dao are addressed and how it is “the ultimate source and motive force of the universe” (Wu 16). His comparison of Dao to the biblical way (John 14:6- “I am the way, the truth, and the life”) was helpful in my understanding of the term. Finally, I really appreciated the quote from Martyn Crucefix’s translation which described the Daodejing as “a gift, freely given at a point of change, a gateway to a new experience” (Crucefix 9). Additionally, Crucefix notes that Dao can manifest in individual objects, actions, and creatures of the world, which was not touched upon as much in the previous translation.