Chapter 1
道可道，非常道。
名可名，非常名。
無，名天地之始；
有，名萬物之母。
故常無，欲以觀其妙；
常有，欲以觀其徼。
此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。
玄之又玄，眾妙之門。
A Way that can be told is not the abiding Way.
A name that can be named is not the abiding name.
Nonbeing names the beginning of heaven and earth;1
being names the mother of the ten thousand things.
So in abiding nonbeing one would see its wonders;2
in abiding being one would see its edges.
These two come out together but differ in name; together they are called dark.
Dark, and darker still: the gate of all wonders.
Notes
1. We follow the punctuation of our source (無，名天地之始). Wang Bi read 無名 and 有名 together: “The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of the ten thousand things.”
2. Again the punctuation of our source (常無，欲以觀其妙). Wang Bi read 常無欲 and 常有欲: “Always without desire, one sees its wonders; always with desire, one sees its edges.”