| Original | English Translation |
|---|---|
| The Dao that can be spoken | |
| is not the eternal Dao. | |
| The name that can be named | |
| is not the eternal name. | |
| Nameless—the beginning of heaven and earth; | |
| Named—the mother of ten thousand things. | |
| Thus, always without desire, | |
| to see its mystery; | |
| always with desire, | |
| to see its boundaries. | |
| These two— | |
| born of one, yet different in name; | |
| both are called the Profound. | |
| Profound and more profound still— | |
| the gate to all mysteries. |
road; path; way; method; principle; to speak; to lead
can; may; possible; permissible; acceptable; to approve
not; wrong; to blame; non respectively
frequent; constant; ordinary; habitual; eternal
name; title; reputation; to call; to designate
not; without; nothing; lacking; void
sky; heaven; nature; fate; day
earth; ground; land; place; region; territory
it, him, her, them; of; 's; go to; reach
begin; start; origin; initial
have; possess; exist; there is/are; present
ten thousand; myriad; countless; all; everything
thing; object; matter; creature; substance
mother; female animal; source; principal; maternal
cause; reason; former; old; therefore
desire; want; intend; be about to; appetite
by means of; use; because; so as to; in order to
look; observe; view; contemplate; perspective; outlook
his; her; its; their; that; the one who; such
wonderful; exquisite; mysterious; subtle; clever
border; boundary; frontier; to reach a limit
this; these; this one; here; thus
two; both; a pair; double; tael (weight)
one who; person; that which; the ...-er
same; together; identical; agree; shared
go out; emerge; produce; occur; issue
and; but; yet; while; moreover
different; strange; unusual; to differ; anomaly
call; say; mean; refer to
dark; mysterious; profound; deep black
again; once more; also; moreover; and
crowd; multitude; the masses; numerous
gate; door; entrance; school/sect; lineage