《道德經第二十五章》

Quetzalcoatl by Hector Franco

有物混成，先天地生。

寂兮寥兮，獨立不改，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。

Dao De jing Chapter twenty-five — C. Ganson

25

There is something mysterious,
without beginning, without end,
that existed before the heavens and earth.
Unmoving; infinite; standing alone; never changing.
It is everywhere and it is inexhaustible.
It is the mother of all.
I do not know its name.
If I must name it I call it Tao
and I hail it as supreme.
Supreme means never-ending;
never-ending means far-reaching;
and far-reaching means returning.
Thus Tao is supreme, the heavens are supreme,
earth is supreme, and man is supreme.
There are four supremes in the universe;
man is one of them.
Man is subject to the laws of the earth,
the earth is subject to the laws of the universe,
the universe is subject to the laws of Tao,
and Tao is subject to the laws of its own nature.

Dao De jing Chapter twenty-five — James Legge

25 (Representations of the mystery)

There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all things.

I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Dao (the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it The Great.

Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns. Therefore the Dao is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great, and the (sage) king is also great. In the universe, there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them.

Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Dao. The law of the Dao is its being what it is.