老子是西方人最感興趣的哲學家之一，從16 世紀開始，西方人把《老子》翻譯成拉 丁文、法文、德文、英文等，據西方學者統計，從1816 年至今，各種西文版的《老子》 已有250 多種，如今幾乎每年都有一到兩種新的譯本問世，人們爭相閱讀、潛心領會、深 入研究，形成一股「老子熱」。聯合國教科文組織統計，被譯成外國文字發行量最多的世 界文化名著，《聖經》名列榜首，其次就是《老子》，《老子》堪稱華夏文化中的道學瑰寶。 經典本無國界，不過，面對外籍學子，《老子》的華語教學存在莫大的語言交際之障 礙，這些障礙主要是來自東西文化、社會與思維方式的差異，尤其是所謂的「文化缺項」 問題。本文討論《老子》華語教學的相關問題，理論與實務兼具，而以實務印證理論。最 後指出，成功的華語教學者旨在讓學生有效率地認識中國經典，務必使學生具備語言的社 會運用規則之知識，《老子》書中的哲學術語與文字解釋是華語教學工作者的難題，教者 只要能跨越這一道鴻溝，就可以把中國的古老智慧思想傳播出去，這是極有意義的教育活 動。 關

Lao-tze is one of the philosophers interested best by the Westerners. Since the beginning
of the 16th century, the Westerners have translated “Lao-Tze” into Latin, French, German,
English, etc. According to the statistics from the Western scholars, from the year 1816 till now,
there have been more than 250 translations of ‘Lao-Tze” in the Western languages. Nowadays,
there are one or two new translations published almost every year. People around the world read
these translations eagerly, understand them with all their hearts, and research them deeply.
There has been a “Lao-Tze Fever”. According to the statistics from the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Bible stands first on the list
of the most publication volume among those world-wide cultural masterpieces translated into
foreign languages. “Lao-Tze” is the second one. “Lao-Tze” is really the Taoism treasure in
Chinese cultures.
There is no boundary for scriptures and classics. However, regarding the Chinese teaching
of “Lao-Tze”, for foreign learners, there have been very big obstacles to language interchange.
These obstacles mainly come from the social and thinking differences between Eastern and
Western cultures, especially the problems of the so-called “cultural shortages”. The writer tries
to discuss the related problems about the Chinese teaching of “Lao-Tze”, including both theory
and practice. The writer also tries to prove theory with practice. In the end, the writer points out
that the purpose of successful Chinese teachers is to let students effectively understand Chinese
scriptures and classics. The teachers need to make students obtain the knowledge of the social
practice regulations for languages. The philosophical terms of “Lao-Tze” and literal
explanations are very difficult for Chinese teachers. As long as teachers can cross over this gap,
they are able to spread out the ancient Chinese wisdom. This is a very meaningful educational
activity.