Chapter 1 of the Laozi

Chinese Text

道dào可kě道dào, 非fēi常cháng道dào; 名míng可kě名míng, 非fēi常cháng名míng.
无wú名míng天tiān地dì之zhī始shǐ; 有yǒu名míng万wàn物wù之zhī母mǔ.
故gù常cháng无wú, 欲yù以yǐ观guān其qí妙miào; 常cháng有yǒu, 欲yù以yǐ观guān其qí徼jiào.
此cǐ两liǎng者zhě同tóng出chū而ér异yì名míng, 同tóng谓wèi之zhī玄xuán, 玄xuán之zhī又yòu玄xuán, 众zhòng妙miào之zhī门mén.

Translation

The Way that can be spoken is not the eternal Way; the name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the named is the mother of all things.
Therefore, by constantly being without desires, one observes its mystery; by constantly having desires, one observes its boundaries.
These two things emerge together but differ in name. They are both called profound. Profound and yet more profound, it is the gate to all subtleties.

Notes

The second character 道dào means 言yán "to speak, to express" (C): 口道kǒudào "to express with the mouth, with words". 苏子由Sū Zǐyóu: There are two Ways (two 道Dào), one ordinary, which is the way of justice, rites, and prudence; it can be expressed in words and its name can be named. The other is the sublime Way spoken of by 老子Lǎozǐ (B). This Way, which transcends the world, has no form, no color, no name. If you seek it with your eyes, you will not see it; if you listen for it, you will not hear it: this is why it cannot be expressed in words or designated with a name.

刘戬夫Liú Jiǎnfū: All perceptible objects have a name that can be named; but there comes a time when this name, derived from their form or nature, disappears. It is not an eternal name.

G, 丁易东Dīng Yìdōng says: Some editors place a pause after 无名wúmíng, 有名yǒumíng "that which has no name, that which has a name"; others place it after 无wú and 有yǒu, and understand non-being and being. However, 老子Lǎozǐ says in Chapter XXXII: 道常无名Dào cháng wúmíng. 始兆Shǐzhào, 有名yǒumíng "The 道Dào is eternal and nameless". When it began to spread (E: literally, "to divide to form beings"), it had a name. This shows that the first punctuation is preferable.

E: The expressions 无名wúmíng "that which has no name", 有名yǒumíng "that which has a name", indicate the 道Dào (considered at two different times). The essence of the 道Dào is empty and incorporeal. When creatures had not yet begun to exist, it could not be named. But when a divine and transformative influence gave them the vital movement, then they emerged from non-being (from the 道Dào), and non-being received its name from beings. (All beings came from it; this is why, says 河上公Héshàng Gōng, the oldest commentator, it is called the 道Dào or the Way. Cf. ch. XXV). This empty and immaterial principle was born before Heaven and Earth; thus it is the origin of Heaven and Earth. As soon as it manifested outwardly, all creatures were born from it; thus it is the mother of all beings.

G, 丁易东Dīng Yìdōng: Some editors (for example H) place a pause after 常无chángwú, 常有chángyǒu, and understand eternal non-being, eternal being; others (and this is the majority) read 常无欲cháng wúyù "constantly without desires", 常有欲cháng yǒuyù "constantly having desires". I have followed this punctuation. (St. Julien.)

A: If a person is constantly free from desires, they will be able to see (B) what is most subtle and profound in the 道Dào.

Literally: "One sees its boundaries, one sees boundaries for it". H: The word 徼jiào means boundaries, limits, that is to say, the boundaries, the limits of the 道Dào. 毕沅Bì Yuán. When people are constantly blinded by desires, they take being for non-being. They believe they see the 道Dào in the coarse and limited forms of the beings that emanate from it.

李息斋Lǐ Xīzhāi explains this passage slightly differently: the word 妙miào "subtle, imperceptible", designates the Great Way, non-being; the word 徼jiào designates the small Way, 小道xiǎodào, that is to say, being. This interpretation is in accordance with that of 秦景元Qín Jǐngyuán, "A 徼jiào is a small path, 小路xiǎolù, which is found beside a great way, 大道边dàdào biān"."

The commentators (for example B) who read 无wú, 名天地之始mìng tiāndì zhī shǐ (non-being is named the origin of Heaven and Earth), instead of 无名wúmíng, 天地之始tiāndì zhī shǐ (that which is without name is the origin of Heaven and Earth), and 有yǒu, 名mìng, etc. (being is named the mother of all beings), instead of 有名yǒumíng etc. (that which has a name, that is to say, the 道Dào having a name is the mother of all beings), relate these two things to 无wú (non-being) and 有yǒu (being); others (for example F), to the words 妙miào "that which is invisible due to its subtlety", and 徼jiào "boundaries, limits". They arrive at the same meaning, that is to say, they understand by these two things, non-being and being.

王弼Wáng Bì (D) believes that the words 此两者cǐ liǎng zhě, "these two things", refer to the words 始shǐ "the origin", and 母mǔ "the mother", which are found in the second paragraph of this chapter. Finally, 河上公Héshàng Gōng (A) relates them to the expressions 有欲yǒuyù "having desires, passions", 无欲wúyù "not having desires, passions". These two things, he says, emerge together from the human heart. The person who is named without desires is constantly preserved, the person who is named having desires inevitably perishes.

This last interpretation cannot agree with the twelve words that conclude the chapter.