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Chapter 42

道生一

道dào生shēng一yī，
一yī生shēng二èr，
二èr生shēng三sān，
三sān生shēng万wàn物wù。
万wàn物wù负fù阴yīn而ér抱bào阳yáng，
冲chōng气qì以yǐ为wéi和hé。
人rén之zhī所suǒ恶è，
唯wéi孤gū、寡guǎ、不bù谷gǔ，
而ér王wáng公gōng以yǐ为wéi称chēng。
故gù物wù或huò损sǔn之zhī而ér益yì，
或huò益yì之zhī而ér损sǔn。
人rén之zhī所suǒ教jiào，
我wǒ亦yì教jiào之zhī。
强qiáng梁liáng者zhě不bù得dé其qí死sǐ，

a> The Dao gives birth to one; one gives birth to two; two gives birth to three; three gives birth to the ten thousand things.

b> The things of the world bear Yin on their backs and embrace the Yang. They exhaust their qi in harmony.

c> People detest being orphaned or widowed or unemployed, yet these are the terms kings and lords use to refer to themselves.

d> One may detract from a thing and it is enhanced thereby, or enhance it and so detract from it.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.