Reddit reviews The Daodejing of Laozi (Hackett Classics)

Philip J. Ivanhoe's translation is very good, and it looks like there are some good translations online. However, I would warn you that although the language is simple, it isn't easy to understand the book without some context. It's worth studying, because even though the book is ancient it
has interesting ideas about how to live a natural life in a civilized society.

I recommend Religious and Philosophical Aspects of the Laozi for some context on who wrote the Laozi and why.

Ooh, and I just found a cool site that includes several translations, a good way to get various opinions on the text.

Issues:

1. I'm almost positive that no one actually knows whether or not Laozi was a real person. There are some historical sources that might be accurate, but they are almost impossible to verify. I can give you a bit of information if you want, but the point is that it doesn't really matter whether you put Kongzi first or Laozi first, because no one can say with any certainty who came first.
   
   
2. Mitchell's translation can be best described as garbage. He's popular in the same way that New Age spiritualism is popular, which is to say, it's entirely non-academic or scholarly (or even accurate for that matter. The guy doesn't speak or read a word of Chinese, so the thought that he could translate anything Chinese is laughable). I think the best translation of the TTC is Philip J. Ivanhoe's translation here.
   
   
3. I'll look into some if you'd like. I'm very busy, so it might take a while, but I'd gladly help in any way.