General Interpretation
This first chapter is the root or foundation of the entire Dao De Jing. It is from this root that all the discussions in the following chapters are derived. Therefore, it is the most important chapter if one wants to accurately extract and apply concepts from this book. Fan, Ying-Yuan (范應元) said: “(This chapter) is the door of entering the ‘Dao’ and the foundation of establishing ‘De’ (i.e., Dao’s manifestation). It is the total conclusion of this classic (i.e., Dao De Jing).”1
Dao (道) is the way of nature that cannot be described or interpreted by words. The work Guan Zi (《管子．內業》) says: “What is the Dao? The mouth cannot describe it, the eyes cannot see it, and the ears cannot listen to it.”2 The Daoist book, Can Tong Qi (《參同契》) says: “The Great Dao does not have sound and is without odor and has no color and no emptiness. (Then), what can we say about it? It is because there is yin and yang hidden within this no sound and no odor. And there is a creation and derivations contained in this no color and no emptiness.”3
From these two sayings, we can see the Dao itself does not have any colors, physical forms, sounds, odors, or anything humans can describe. Though it cannot be sensed or seen, it is there and existing. Its power is great and it gives birth to all lives and objects.
The Daoist script, Qing Jing Jing (《清靜經》) say: “The Great Dao does not have shape (i.e., is not visible), but it gives birth to heaven and earth (i.e., the universe). The Great Dao does not have compassion, but it moves the sun and moon. The Great Dao has no name, but it grows and nourishes myriad objects. I don’t know what its name is, but if forced to name it, call it ‘Dao.’ ”4 Fan, Ying-Yuan (范應元) concluded: “The long-lasting and natural Dao exists, but without shape; though shapeless, there is an essence (i.e., content). It is so big that there is no external boundary; thus, there is nothing not included within. It is so tiny without an internal boundary; thus, there is no tiny place that cannot be entered. Therefore, there is nowhere it cannot permeate (i.e., reach).”5
This means the Dao is everywhere and there is no boundary, no limitation of time or space. It is something that, though it reaches everywhere, cannot be described. The reason for this is simply because the Dao is so profound and marvelous that it cannot be described by the limited human knowledge and concepts we have discovered or defined. If we use this limited knowledge to explain the Dao, the Dao will have been distorted and will not be the original natural Dao anymore. For example, the Dao is truthful and does not lie. However, we all lie and play tricks on each other. Consequently, we all have a mask on our faces. The Dao does not have emotions, colors, good or bad, glory, dignity, honor, pride, or any other desires created by humans. We humans are truly in a deep bondage to the matrix of all of these human emotions. Therefore, if we use our emotional and untruthful mind to judge the truth of the Great Nature, then the interpretation of the Dao will not be truthful.
The Great Nature does not have a name or give a name to anything. Therefore, all of the myriad objects do not have names. It was we humans who gave names. Once these names are given and defined, the natural truth is again distorted and becomes misleading. Therefore, once we have given the names to those objects or feelings around us, we have created a matrix (masked society) that is not the natural Dao but a human Dao. That means, again, we have defined Nature or the Dao through our limited mind.
Relatively speaking, nothingness can be considered as yin (陰) that initiates the millions of things (having). Having is the manifestation of nothingness (yin) and is considered as yang (陽). Nothingness is called the wuji state (無極) (no extremity, no polarities). From this wuji state, through taiji (太極) or Dao (道), the “having” is initiated. “Nothingness” and “having” are two aspects of the same “Dao”; even though there a...
