《道德经》（又名《老子》）的英文译本如今世界上已经由超过一百个不同的版本。这一百多个不同的译本证明了对同一个原文文本可能有上百种不同的理解，译文因译者对原文的理解之异而不同。因为翻译首先是理解，又因为不同的译者水平不尽相同，所以各个译本在词汇、句型和行文风格等方面有时候差异很大。因此说，原文永远只有一个，译文却常常因译者而异并且是不断变化的，译文文本很难确定最终有多少个。

       为了分析过去150年来产生的100多个译本，国外的研究者已经建立了《道德经》英文译文数据库，以便对原文和不同的译本进行分析，期望通过这些研究更具体地了解东西方文化间的关系。通过互联网检索，读者可以看到：

       In the last 150 years, the ambiguous and enigmatic 81 chapters of the Tao Te Ching have been translated, interpreted and adapted into the English language more than 100 times. The Tao and its subtle philosophy is currently being actively assimilated into mainstream western culture as evidenced by the popularity and volume of Taoist works. The purpose of this study was to analyse this phenomenon. First, a database of English translations of the Tao Te Ching was established. This database documents the vast number of Tao Te Ching translations in print from 1868 to the present. Second, specific chapters of selected English translations of the Tao Te Ching were compared using holistic and content analysis. The holistic methods focused on the overall semantic connotation of the selected chapters. The specific (linguistic) analysis methods entailed the use of a computerized content analysis program. Through these inquiries, a specific understanding of the cross-cultural relationship between East and West was investigated.[i]

       汉译英《道德经》面临的难题是如何把握住原文的精神而不受原文的文字所束缚，正如宾纳（Witter Bynner）所说：

“There can be little doubt”, says Walter Gorn Old, “that any translation from the Chinese is capable of extreme flexibility and license, of which, indeed the translator must avail himself if he would rightly render the spirit rather than the letter of the text; and the spirit, after all, is the essential thing, if we follow the teaching of Lao-Tzu. It is safe to say that the more literal the translation maybe the more obscure its meaning.”[ii]

       然而，在《道德经》翻译中，把握住原文的精神而不是拘泥于文字，绝非易事，甚至于应当用什么句式来翻译其中的文本，有时候也可能颇具争议。

       姑且以《道德经》第三章的前三句话为例。原文如下：

不尚贤，使民不争；

不贵难得之货，使民不为盗；

不见可欲，使民心不乱。

       过去一百年来，西方译者对此一直都是以陈述句（declarative clauses）来翻译的，尽管各自给出的译文不尽相同。以下是从互联网上信手拈来的几个例子：

(1) James Legge (1891)的译文

Not to value and employ men of superior ability is the way to keep the people from rivalry among themselves; not to prize articles which are difficult to procure is the way to keep them from becoming thieves; not to show them what is likely to excite their desires is the way to keep their minds from disorder.

(2) M. E. Reynolds (1919) 的译文

Neglecting to praise the worthy deters people from emulating them; just as not prizing rare treasures deters a man from becoming a thief; or ignoring the things which awaken desire keeps the heart at rest.

(3) Witter Bynner (1944) 的译文

It is better not to make merit a matter of reward

Lest people conspire and contend,

Not to pile up rich belongings

Lest they rob,

Not to excite by display

Lest they covet.

(4) Peter A. Merel (1995) 的译文

Not praising the worthy prevents contention,

Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,

Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.

       但是，中国学者却有使用祈使句（imperative clauses）来翻译这段话的。例如林语堂先生给出的译文：

Exalt not the wise,

   So that the people shall not scheme and contend;

Prize not rare objects,

   So that the people shall not steal;

Shut out from site the things of desire,

   So that the people's hearts shall not be disturbed. ----Translated by Lin Yutang (1942)

       北京大学辜正坤教授在1995年同样使用祈使句来翻译这段话：

Keep the people from contention by disregarding men of abilities;

Keep the people from theft by not valuing rare goods;

Keep the people from the disturbed state of mind by concealing what is desirable. ----Translated by Gu Zhenkun (1995) [iii]

       值得注意的是，对于祈使句的用法，拜伯（Biber, D.）等在《朗文英语口语和笔语语法》中是这样告诉读者的：

Imperatives are typically used in contexts where the addressee is apparent; the subject is usually omitted but understood to refer to the addressee. Imperatives typically urge the addressee to do something (or not to do something) after the moment of speaking; hence there is no need for tense, aspect, or modal specification. [iv]

        另外，术语问题也常常令人困惑，是一道很难逾越的翻译障碍。在《圣经》的翻译中，“道”用来翻译英文“Word”，即上帝的语言。《圣经》的中译本《约翰福音》第一节第一句开门见山就是“太初有道，道与神同在，道就是神。”其英文原文为“In the beginning was the Word，and the Word was with God，and the Word was God．”“道”这个概念完全是土生土长的中国精神产物，因为翻译突然之间与西方精神的源头沾上了关系。但是何以理解此“道”与道德经之“道”的区别?

       斯塔纳（Steiner）在他的《通天塔之后：语言与翻译面面观》一书中，谈到英语所具有的语言和文化特性：

[…] the historical fabric, the inventory of felt moral, cultural existence are embedded in the language. The landscapes of experience, the fields of idiomatic, symbolic, communal reference […] give to the language its specific gravity,…[v]

[……历史遗产，总体道德观念以及文化存在，这一切全都内嵌在语言中。经验的广度和深度，惯用语的使用语域、符号的使用语域、地方专属的某种特定含义的使用语域[……]这些都赋予语言以自身的相对独特性……]

        注意到斯坦纳这段话，就会理解外语学习中存在的某些近乎难以克服的障碍，因为语言之间的差别不仅在于当前的词汇和语法结构，还在于使用者本身所处的地理环境、经历过的社会实践、生产活动和历史活动等等。正是这些东西赋予一种语言和一个民族自己的特性。（该书已有中文译本，斯坦纳在原著第三版的前言中说他只能对译者表示敬畏。） 把握一种语言的形式或许不难，而要真正把握一种语言的实质或是内在精神，除非能借助这种语言本身，对内嵌于其中的历史遗产，道德观念以及文化存在有所了解，对标志其特性的惯用语的、符号的、对当地人在特定场景中有特别意义的种种背景有所领会，否则是绝对不可能说真正掌握了那门语言的。

        综上所述，《道德经》由汉语为母语的人翻译与由英语为母语的人翻译所得到的译文在使用的词汇和相关句型上永远存在明显差别。这种语言差别对受众会产生什么影响，还有待评估。