Understanding the Chinese mind Book

The Way and Its Power is a complex analysis of the Tao Te Ching and its place in the Chinese philosophy of its time. The intro by Arthur Waley is very detailed, and is actually longer than the Tao Te Ching itself. I would recommend reading the intro until the section titled "The Tao Te Ching," and then skip to the main text. After finishing the main text, go back and read the rest of the intro. This will give all of the context of the text and its vocabulary but won't yet go into the analysis of the Tao Te Ching's influence of Chinese philosophy. Both Waley's intro and his translation notes are scholarly but still give the reader a sense of Waley's opinion. This is what makes the commentary interesting and insightful to read. To an inexperienced reader (like me), the book may be a little difficult to get through sometimes, but this is not the fault of Waley nor the original text.