PART 1.
Ch. 1. 1. The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and
unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and
unchanging name.
2. (Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and
earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
3. Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we
would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is
all that we shall see.
4. Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development
takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the
Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle
and wonderful.
2. 1. All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing
this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is; they all know the skill of the
skilful, and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.
2. So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the
idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the
other; that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other;
that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one
with the other; that the musical notes and tones become harmonious
through the relation of one with another; and that being before and behind
give the idea of one following another.