Legge's parentheses are his own. The chapter continues with the four great things and the sequence man, earth, heaven, Tao; that continuation is not quoted here. Legge's own commentary on the chapter reads it as Lao Tzu groping after the God of Christian theism, which tells you as much about Legge as about the text.
Facts
Passage
TextThere was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all things. I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao (the Way or Course). 1 Reference Scheme Translation
TranslationThe Texts of Taoism, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39) 1 Connections
Associated With
Laozi, Figures This source names Laozi directly: "Legge's own commentary on the chapter reads it as Lao Tzu groping after the God of Christian theism, which tells you as much about Legge as about the text."
Source The Texts of Taoism, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39)James Legge
Concerns
The fullest description of the Tao as source in the whole book.
Passage Of
Source The Texts of Taoism, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39)James Legge
Sources
1. The Texts of Taoism, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39)
James Legge, Clarendon Press / Internet Sacred Text Archive, 1891Tao Te Ching 25View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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