Much like Western religious traditions, there is a long history of commentary on seminal texts of Chinese philosophy and religion, most of which has yet to be translated. In this interview with Mattias Daly, Chinese medicine practitioner and Daoist scholar, we explore the long tradition of commentary on the Dao De Jing, and go into depth aboutthe translation of the well know term often translated as “the mysterious female” 玄牝 We also delve deeply into the Buddhist influences on Daoist poetry.