第一章

道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。

无名，天地之始；有名，万物之母。

故常无欲，以观其妙；常有欲，以观其徼。

此两者，同出而异名，同谓之玄。

玄之又玄，众妙之门。

Chapter 1

The Way that can be told of is not an Unvarying Way;

The names that can be named are not unvarying names.

It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;

The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures,each after its kind.

Truly,"Only he that rids himself forever of desire can see the Secret Essences";

He that has never rid himself of desire can see only the Outcomes.

These two things issued from the same mould,but nevertheless are different in name.

This "same mould"we can but call the Mystery,

Or rather the "Darker than any Mystery",

The Doorway whence issued all Secret Essences.