Chapter 25

Original Text

有物渾成。先天地生。寂兮寥兮。獨立而不改。周行而不殆。可以為天下母。吾不知其名。字之曰道。強為之名曰大。大曰逝。逝曰遠。遠曰反。故道大。天大。地大。王亦大。域中有四大。而王居其一焉。人法地。地法天。天法道。道法自然。

Translation

Something there is, formed in a single whole, born before Heaven and Earth. Silent and vast, standing alone, it does not change. Circling everywhere, it does not falter. It may be called the mother of all under Heaven.

I do not know its name. I style it "Dao." Pressed to give it a name, I call it "great." Great — it flows forth. Flowing forth — it reaches far. Reaching far — it returns.

Therefore: Dao is great. Heaven is great. Earth is great. The human being, too, is great. Within the world there are four greats, and the human being occupies one of them.

The human being takes Earth as its model. Earth takes Heaven as its model. Heaven takes Dao as its model. Dao takes the natural as its model.

Word Notes

• 寥 — "vast": Expansive, boundlessly open.
• 逝 — "flows forth": Goes, departs, passes onward.
• 域 — "the world": The realm, the cosmos.
• 王 — "the human being": JXZ reads 王 (wáng, king) as meaning 人 (rén, human being). The human being is the most numinous of the myriad beings; therefore, it is called "king."

Chapter Explanation

There is a thing, formed in a single whole, born before Heaven and Earth. It is silent and unmoving, vast and empty. It stands alone without counterpart, enduring through all ages yet never changing. It circulates through everything in all existence yet never falters. It gives birth to every being under Heaven, and may be called the mother of all. I do not know this thing's name. By way of a courtesy name, I call it Dao. Pressed to give it a proper name, I call it great. Being great, it can transform without leaving a trace — this is called flowing forth. Having gone far beyond all boundaries, this is called reaching far. Though it reaches far, it is right before us at this very moment — this is called returning.

Consider how those who voyage across the sea, upon reaching the farthest point, turn and come back — this is precisely what is meant by "reaching far, it returns."

Therefore, Dao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and the human being, too, is great. Within the world there are four greats, and the human being holds one of them. Though the human being is but a small body, the heart's capacity extends beyond Heaven and Earth. If one is to bring this greatness to fulfillment: take Earth as one's model and bear all things without exception. Go further and take Heaven as one's model, like Heaven that covers all things without exception. Like Heaven, take Dao as one's model, which gives birth to all things without appearing to do so. Like Dao, which gives birth to the myriad beings as a matter of course, take the natural as one's model.

Discourse

This chapter speaks at length of the subtlety of Dao and of Dao's function. Though Dao is mysterious and unfathomable, the human being, having been born from Dao, possesses the full substance of Dao. One need only turn back and seek it, bringing forth that full substance: modeling Earth, which is still and of deep De, bearing all things; modeling Heaven, which flows ceaselessly in its creative activity, giving life to all; modeling Dao, which gives birth to the myriad beings without appearing to give birth to them at all — everything in accordance with the natural. Then one may share its title and stand as one of the four greats, transcending Heaven and Earth. Why stop at merely standing alongside them?

Earth, too, is in motion. Yet Earth is a solid body: its motion follows an orbit and a fixed measure, and it moves slowly. Heaven is of the nature of qi — its movement is constant and fluid, and all that is dispersed among the myriad beings belongs to it. This is why the ancients said "Heaven moves, Earth rests." Moreover, the Sage established his argument on the basis of what the people could see, in order to reveal principle. Could it be that the Sage, whose learning spans the human and the divine, did not know that Earth moves?

To take Dao as one's model is to give birth to the myriad beings without appearing to do so. All of it accords with the natural. Then one may share its name and stand as one body with Dao, transcending Heaven and Earth — not merely joining them as the fourth among four greats.