Original Text
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Non-being is the beginning of heaven and earth; being is the mother of all things. Thus, constantly observe the mystery of heaven and earth from non-being; constantly trace the manifestations of all things from being. Being and non-being are merely different names for the same source. Both are profound and deep, the gateway to all wonders.
Guide
As the opening chapter of the Tao Te Ching, only by correctly understanding the profound mystery here can one recognize and grasp Laozi's philosophical system. Here, Laozi groundbreakingly introduced the concept of "Tao" as the core of his philosophical thought. The meaning of "Tao" is vast and profound; people can understand it from a historical perspective, interpret it from a literary angle, explore it through aesthetic principles, and even more so, contemplate it through the dialectics of the philosophical system.
Analysis
This is the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching. It opens with the famous line: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao," initially revealing the true essence of the Tao.
Dao is an important category in ancient Chinese philosophy. Laozi was the first thinker to propose, explain, and demonstrate Dao as a philosophical category. As the core of Laozi's philosophy, Dao runs through his entire ideological system. There have been diverse interpretations of Laozi's Dao throughout history. Some believe Dao is a spiritual entity, the highest principle existing independently of material substance, advocating that Laozi's theory of Dao is objective idealism. Others argue that Dao is the chaotic, undifferentiated unity of the universe in its primordial state, supporting that Laozi's theory of Dao is materialism. It is generally accepted that Dao is the origin of the universe and the law governing the operation of all things. Chen Guying, in his book "Laozi: Translation, Annotation, and Commentary," cites Yang Xingshun's view, summarizing the basic characteristics of Dao as: First, Dao is the natural law of things, rejecting all gods and "heavenly will." Second, Dao exists eternally; it is the naturalness of the everlasting material world. Dao is infinite in both time and space. Third, Dao is the essence of all things, manifesting through its attribute (De). Without all things, Dao does not exist. Fourth, as essence, Dao is the unity of the world's material foundation "Qi" and its natural laws of change. Fifth, Dao is the indestructible necessity in the material world; all things are subject to the laws of Dao. Dao destroys everything that hinders it. Sixth, the fundamental law of Dao is that all things and phenomena are in constant motion and change, and in the process of change, all things and phenomena transform into their opposites. Seventh, all things and phenomena are in a state of interconnection, and this connection is accomplished through the unified Dao. Eighth, Dao cannot be perceived by our senses, but it can be known through logical thinking. From this perspective, Dao existed in the vast universe before the creation of heaven and earth, and after heaven and earth were formed, Dao plays its role in all things, running through the entire process of their generation, growth, development, and extinction, existing objectively as a natural law.
When we speak of the Tao, we inevitably try to imagine its form in our minds, yet our imagination is often limited and subjective. The true Tao does not change according to human will; it exists objectively but is invisible and intangible, hence the saying "the great Tao has no form." The image of the Tao we fabricate through subjective imagination is not the true Tao; it can only be called a name. The concept of "name" cannot be described or defined by language or writing, as the limitations of language and writing are even greater than those of imagination. If we use language or writing to describe the Tao, we only go against it. Since the Tao cannot be described by language or writing, how can we understand it? Given the limitations of language and writing and the fact that the Tao can only be sensed but not expressed, we can only glimpse its true nature through abstract concepts, namely the two names "Non-being" and "Being." Non-being refers to the chaotic state before the formation of heaven and earth, indicating that heaven and earth arise from Non-being. Being means existence, representing a state of nurturing all things; it is the mother of all things, meaning all things are born and nurtured from Being.
Thus we can understand Dao as a state of nothingness, a capacity of being; its origin is nothingness, yet it can give birth to all things in heaven and earth. For this reason, we can adopt an attitude of nothingness to comprehend the mystery of Dao. The origin of Dao is emptiness; to comprehend the great Dao, we must discard all distracting thoughts, return ourselves to the state of a newborn infant without any consciousness, and reach a realm of complete emptiness. Only in this way can we truly realize the wonder and subtlety of Dao. Nothingness and being are two concepts we must grasp; they are the keys to opening the "gate of all mysteries," and only through them can we understand the essence of Dao.
What is called "constant nothingness" is an eternal nothing, or "great nothing"; correspondingly, "constant being" is an eternal being, also called "great being." Through this constant nothingness that forgets all self, we can perceive the wonder of the beginning of heaven and earth; through this constant being that embraces all things, we can observe the boundary before things arise. Wonder, according to the composition of the Chinese character, can be split into "young" and "woman," where a young woman is not only in her prime but also a symbol of innocence and purity; used here in the context of the Way, it can be understood as the origin of heaven and earth. Boundary originally means a border, extended here to mean beginning or clue. In this context, both constant nothingness and constant being are merely descriptions of a certain state within the cosmic Way, still remaining at the conceptual level as names. Constant nothingness comes first and constant being follows, so the conceptual names differ, yet both arise from the Way, representing its development and change, collectively called "mystery." Mystery means profound, incomprehensible, and unfathomable. "The Way has no form," ever-changing, and through these changes, it constitutes the myriad wonders of heaven and earth, which Laozi calls "mystery upon mystery, the gate of all wonders."
Looking back at the original text, it is not difficult to see that it focuses on several concepts: the concept of the Way, the concept of naming, the concepts of non-being and being, the concepts of subtlety and manifestation, and the concept of mystery. These concepts are collectively referred to as "names." Borrowing Laozi's phrase "The name that can be named is not the eternal name," these concepts do not truly reveal the essence of the Way, because "The Way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way"—no words or language can fully disclose its true meaning. We study and explore these concepts to better understand the Way, as they can serve as bridges to its comprehension.