第四章 Dao De Jing · Chapter 4
The Way is empty yet never used up, the hidden ancestor of all things.
Text
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道冲而用之或不盈，
The Way soars and consumes, without filling.
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渊兮似万物之宗。
So deep as to be the ancestor of the myriad things.
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挫其锐，解其纷，
It blunts sharpness, untangles knots,
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和其光，同其尘。
Softens the glare, combines the elements.
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湛兮似或存，
So profound as to possibly have a remainder.
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吾不知谁之子，
I do not know what it is,
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象帝之先。
It appeared before God.
Words in this chapter
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 道 | dào | the Way |
| 冲 | chōng | empty, like a vessel |
| 而 | ér | and, and then |
| 用 | yòng | to use |
| 之 | zhī | it, them (object) |
| 或 | huò | perhaps, ever |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 盈 | yíng | full, to fill |
| 渊 | yuān | deep pool, depth |
| 兮 | xī | ah (particle) |
| 似 | sì | seems, as if |
| 万物 | wàn wù | the myriad things |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 宗 | zōng | ancestor, origin |
| 挫 | cuò | to blunt |
| 其 | qí | its, his, their |
| 锐 | ruì | sharp, to sharpen |
| 解 | jiě | to untie |
| 纷 | fēn | tangle, confusion |
| 和 | hé | to soften, to blend |
| 光 | guāng | light, brightness |
| 同 | tóng | to merge with |
| 尘 | chén | dust |
| 湛 | zhàn | deep and still |
| 存 | cún | to exist, endure |
| 吾 | wú | I |
| 知 | zhī | to know |
| 谁 | shéi | who, whose |
| 子 | zǐ | child, offspring |
| 象 | xiàng | seems, like an image |
| 帝 | dì | the Lord on High |
| 先 | xiān | before, ahead |
Compare: James Legge (1891)
The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our employment of it we must be on our guard against all fulness. How deep and unfathomable it is, as if it were the Honoured Ancestor of all things!
We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others. How pure and still the Tao is, as if it would ever so continue!
I do not know whose son it is. It might appear to have been before God.
Public domain. Source: Wikisource.
Meaning of chapter 4
Chapter 4 describes the Way as an empty vessel. 冲 is read here as an empty bowl: it can be used and never needs filling, and it never runs out. Deep as an abyss, it seems to be the ancestor of the myriad things.
The middle lines say what it does: it blunts what is sharp, undoes tangles, softens the glare and mingles with the dust. The same four phrases appear again in chapter 56, where they describe the person who has found the Way. Then the tone turns uncertain: it is limpid and seems barely there, and the speaker does not know whose child it is.
The last line, 象帝之先, says the Way seems to come before 帝, the Lord on High, the supreme god of ancient China; Wang Bi explains 帝 as the Lord of heaven, and the house English says "God". The idea of a fullness that seems empty and is never used up returns in chapter 45.