Versions of Chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching: hall and ames, legge, bodde, benjamin hoff
Roger Ames and David Hall (2003)
Way-making (dao) that can be put into words is not really way-making.
And naming (ming) that can assign fixed reference to things is not really naming.
The nameless (wuming) is the fetal beginnings of everything that is happening (wanwu),
while that which is named is their mother.
Thus, to be really objectless in one's desires (wuyu) is how one observes the mysteries of all things.
While really having desires is how one observes their boundaries.
These two - the nameless and what is named - emerge from the same source yet are referred to differently.
Together they are called obscure
The obscurest of the obscure,
They are the swinging gateway of the manifold mysteries.
Stephen Addis and Stanley Lombardo (1993)
Tao k'o tao fei ch'ang tao.
TAO called TAO is not TAO.
Names can name no lasting name.
Nameless: the origin of heaven and earth.
Naming: the mother of the ten thousand things.
Empty of desire, perceive mystery.
Filled with desire, perceive manifestations.
These have the same source, but different names.
Call them both deep -
Deep and again deep:
The gateway to all mystery.
*
James Legge (1880)
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
[Conceived of as] having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth;
[Conceived of as] having a name, it is the Mother of all things,
Always without desire we must be found
If its deep mystery we would sound:
But if desire withijn us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects it realy is the same; but as
development takes place it receives different names.
Together we call them the Mystery. Where the
Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle
and wonderful.
Jeff Rasmussen (2001)
Spoken Tao is not eternal TaoSpoken name is not eternal name
Nameless is the source of all
Named is the source of the myriad things
Ever desireless one sees wonders
Ever desiring one sees manifestations
These two are the same in origin yet differ in name
The origin is the great mystery
Gateway to all understanding.
*
Benjamin Hoff (1981)
The way that can be defined to death is not the Way to Life.The road that can be measured is not the endless road.
From nothing, the infinite universe began. From no number, the countless things appeared.
From no name, their limitless sources will be known.
Looking out, its effects are seen;
Looking in, their cause is discovered.
With words, these are considered separate;
With vision, they are recognized as one.
*
Red Pine (1996):
The way that becomes a wayis not the Immortal Way
the name that becomes a name
is not the Immortal name
the maiden of Heaven and Earth has no name
the mother of all things has a name
thus in innocence we see the beginning
in passion we see the end
two different names
for one and the same
the one we call dark
the dark beyond dark
the door to all beginnings
*
Derk Bodde (1937):
The *Tao* that may be called *Tao* is not the invariable *Tao*. The names that can be named are not the invariable names. Non-being is the term given to the form from which Heaven and Earth sprang. Being is the term given to the mother that rears the ten thousand things (on earth). Of the invariable Non-being, we wish to see its secret essences. Of the invariable Being, we wish to see its borders. These two have issued together but are different in name. The two together we call the Mystery. It is the Mystery of Mysteries, the doorway of all secret essences.*
Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English (1972):
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The namesd is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one sees manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.
*
Ursula LeGuin (1998):
The way you can go
isn't the real way.
The name you can say
isn't the real name.
Heaven and earth
begin in the unnamed:
name's the mother
of the ten thousand things.
So the unwanting soul
sees what's hidden,
and the ever-wanting soul
sees only what it wants.
Two things, one origin,
but different in name,
whose identity is mystery.
Mystery of all mysteries!
The door to the hidden.
*
Jonathan Star (2001):
A way that can be walked
is not the way
A name that can be named
is not the name.
Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things.
As named, it is the mother of all things.
A mind free of thought,
merged within itself,
beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
identified with its own perceptions,
beholds the mere form of the world
Tao and this world seem different
but in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them
How deep and mysterious this unity is
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth
the hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
the gate to the essence of everything!
*
Witter Bynner (1944):
Existence is beyond the power of words
To define:
Terms may be used
But are none of them absolute.
In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,
Words came out of the womb of matter;
And whether a man dispassionately
Sees to the core of life
Or passionately
Sees the surface,
The core and the surface are essentially the same,
Words making them seem different
Only to express appearance.
If name be needed, wonder names them both:
From wonder into wonder
Existence opens.
*
David H. Li (2001):
Direction, as expressed, is no ordinary direction;
as named, no ordinary name.
Null identifies the universe at the beginning.
Ull [all] identifies the mother of myriad matters.
Thus, visit Null to observe its intricateness.
Visit Ull to observe its limitlessness.
These two spring from the smae sort; only their identifications differ.
Both are profound.
Profound upon profound, it is the portal to all intricacies.
