Chapter 4
道冲
道冲，
而用之或不盈。
渊兮，
似万物之宗；
挫其锐，
解其纷，
和其光，
同其尘；
湛兮似或存。
吾不知谁之子？
象帝之先。
a> The Dao is empty yet you may keep drawing from it as though it could never fill your need.
b> It is an abyss, like the ancestor of the world of things.
c> Blunt the point, Undo the tangle, Soften the glare, Join the dust.
d> Dim, it seems almost to exist. I know not whose child it may be. It seems the forerunner of the Lord.
A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.
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