Chapter 25

There is a thing formed from confusion and born before heaven and earth. Silent, solitary, alone and unchanging. It revolves everywhere and is never in danger. It can be the mother of all under heaven. I do not know its name, but I style it ‘the Dao’. If forced to give it a name, I call if ‘the Great’. The Great I call ‘Receding’. Receding I call ‘Distant’. Distant I call ‘Reversing’. Thus the Dao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and the king is great as well. Within the realm there are four great ones, and the king sits as one among them. Men emulate earth; earth emulates heaven (tian); heaven emulates the Dao; the Dao emulates spontaneity.