Chapter 21

Original Text

孔德之容。唯道是從。道之為物。唯恍唯惚。惚兮恍兮。其中有象。恍兮惚兮。其中有物。竊兮冥兮。其中有精。其精甚真。其中有信。自古及今。其名不去。以閱眾甫。吾何以知眾甫之然哉。以此。

Translation

The bearing of abundant De follows only Dao. Dao as a thing -- elusive and obscure. Obscure and elusive: within it there is image. Elusive and obscure: within it there is substance. Profound and dark: within it there is essence. Its essence is utterly real; within it there is evidence. From antiquity to the present day, its name has never departed -- through it, all origins are surveyed. How do I know the nature of all origins? By this.

Word Notes

• 竊冥 — "profound and dark": Deeply hidden, unfathomable.
• 閱 — "surveyed": To pass through, to examine across time.

Chapter Explanation

One whose bearing is that of abundant De follows only Dao. Dao as a thing is supremely subtle — elusive and obscure, impossible to see. Though impossible to see, within the elusive and obscure there is yet image. Within the elusive and obscure there is yet substance. In what is profound and dark and beyond fathoming, there is yet essence. Its essence is utterly real; within it there is evidence that can be relied upon. This Dao, from antiquity to the present day, has never lost its name. Through it, all of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad beings are surveyed. How do I know that Heaven, Earth, and the myriad beings issue from Dao? Because Dao is elusive, obscure, profound, and dark — it cannot be destroyed or extinguished.

Discourse

One whose bearing is that of abundant De still follows only Dao — how much more must such a person nourish themselves inwardly through Dao. The divine subtlety of Dao cannot be called nonexistent, nor can it be called existent. To take it as nonexistent would be dead emptiness. To take it as existent would be to cling to form and appearance. Yet precisely within this space that is at once without and with, with and without, there is a formless image and a chaotically formed substance. What are this image and this substance? If one could point to them concretely, one would already have lost their essential nature. Yet if nothing is said, people will fail to understand. Let me, then, venture to describe it: it is the pivot at the moment when the Ultimateless gives rise to the Supreme Ultimate — something inchoate and undifferentiated within. Though named image and substance, it remains profound and dark beyond fathoming. And within that profundity there is indeed true essence, with evidence that can be relied upon. If a person can embody this and put it into practice, they can unite with Dao and share in its eternity — enduring from antiquity to the present, never departing.