Chapter 4 of the Laozi

Chinese Text

道dào冲chōng而ér用yòng之zhī或huò不bù盈yíng, 渊yuān兮xī似sì万wàn物wù之zhī宗zōng.
挫cuò其qí锐ruì, 解jiě其qí纷fēn, 和hé其qí光guāng, 同tóng其qí尘chén.
湛zhàn兮xī其qí若ruò存cún, 吾wú不bù知zhī谁shéi之zhī子zǐ, 象xiàng帝dì之zhī先xiān.

Translation

The Dao is empty; when used, it seems inexhaustible.
Oh, how profound it is! It seems the ancestor of all things.
It blunts its sharpness, unties its knots, softens its light, and merges with the dust.
Oh, how pure it is! It seems to exist eternally.
I do not know whose child it is; it seems to precede the Lord of Heaven.

Notes

This chapter presents great difficulties; here, I follow interpreters D and F, who explain the words 不盈bù yíng as "it is inexhaustible." The same meaning is found in 李息斋Lǐ Xīzhāi (ed. G): "The 道Dào is so deep and subtle that the more it is used, the more inexhaustible it becomes."

While explaining the words 不盈bù yíng as "it is inexhaustible," D did not overlook their literal meaning: "All the things in the world," he says, "could not fill or completely occupy its immense capacity." "It is a bottomless abyss (says 宏甫Hóngfǔ, ed. G); all the rivers of the earth could gather in its bosom without ever filling it."

A: The word 宗zōng means "first ancestor, patriarch." E explains this word with 主zhǔ "master, sovereign."

齐德庆Qí Déqìng (ed. C) believes that the great 道Dào is the subject of the four verbs: to slacken (弛chí), to untie (解jiě), to soften (和hé), to assimilate (同tóng). H and several other commentators imply the words 有道者yǒu dào zhě "one who possesses the Dao" before these verbs. It restrains the ardor of its character (sic H), frees itself from bonds, tempers its brilliance, and lowers itself to the level of the common, literally: "it makes itself similar to their dust."

These four phrases are also found in Chapter LVI, where it seems difficult not to attribute them to the sage who possesses the 道Dào.

Perhaps they should be removed from this chapter where they seem out of place, whether they are attributed to the 道Dào or applied to the sage who possesses the 道Dào.

Most editions have 祸huò before 孙sūn. I preferred the reading 常cháng "eternally," which is found in the variants of edition G.