The Tao Te Ching
Graphic Book Design
About The Tao Te Ching
- The Book Of The Way -
The Tao Te Ching is the foundational text for both the religious and philosophical followings of Taoism and summarised, is the belief that humans should live in balance with the planet, other beings and universe; in Tao (or Dao).
Taoism combines a wide array of subjects and themes including (to mention a few), the importance of balancing your yin and your yang, the importance of 'letting go', the benefits of mastering effortless action, how-to 'not do', and educates on how to live a harmonious, compassionate, peaceful and serene life.
The earliest version of the Tao Te Ching ever recorded upon excavation, found written on bamboo strips inside a Chinese tomb as recently as 1993 is believed have its origins as far back as 300BC.
The recorded author, Laozi (also known as by Lao Zi, Lao Tzu or Tzŭ, Lao-tzu. Laozi), meaning 'Old Master', is often argued not to be the actual source. Many believe that Laozi didn't actually write the text, but was gifted it for political and cultural reasons.
It's mysterious origins, be it the date of its first recording, or its author, remain heavily debated to this day and interestingly, many believe that the Tao Te Ching is, in fact, the result of the collaborative efforts of many writers, philosophers and artists of its time.
So, I've just started to design this graphic copy of the Tao Te Ching using a mixture of photo editing, photo collaging, graphic design and fine art and will include spaces for notes and reflections for what you're reading about, while you go.
As the book is in the public domain (copyright expired), the book is available to be designed and resold.
You can find a lot of books available for this if you search 'Public domain books'.
Public domain content also includes images, music, film etc so the possibilities are almost endless with what you're free to reuse.
What you see here will be updated as I go and for now, the images are 'in progress' and rough drafts and unfinished.
