Source: From the first chapter of Laozi's Tao Te Ching in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Tao can be Tao, but it is not constant. A name can be named, but it is not a constant name. Nameless, the beginning of everything; Fame is the mother of everything. Therefore, there is no desire to watch; There is always a desire to see what it is. They are the same, but different names are the same. Mysterious and mysterious, many people's doors.
Translation: "Tao" that can be expressed in words is not an eternal "Tao"; It can be said in words that it is not an eternal "name". "Nothing" is the foundation of heaven and earth, and "Being" is the root of all things. We should observe the mystery of Tao from "nothing". We often know the clues of Tao from "being".
Extended data
Laozi's "Tao" is that "things are mixed and born naturally. Xiao Oh, sloppy, independent and not embarrassed, but the mother of heaven and earth. I don't know its name, it says between the lines. Strong is big. "
This sentence means that before the creation of heaven and earth, there were chaotic objects in the universe, which were quiet, silent, vast, helpless and unchanging. They are loving mothers who raise everything. "I"-I don't know its name, so I call it "Tao" and "Da".
Therefore, Lao Tzu's Tao is first of all material, the original power source to create everything in the world, and its existence is independent, immeasurable and infinite. For the power of "Tao", Laozi himself can't give it an exact description, so he thinks that Tao is only a stopgap measure.
"Taoism is natural" is the essence of Laozi's thought in Tao Te Ching. As the most abstract concept category in Tao Te Ching, "Tao" is the source of power to create everything in the world. "Virtue" is the development and expression of "Tao" in the field of ethics. "Tao" and "law" have similarities in rules and common sense, but they are different from western natural law. "Law" should imitate the way of nature and play a role in the reverse transformation of syndrome differentiation.
Philosophically, "Tao" is the mother of the beginning of all things in heaven and earth, the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang is the essential embodiment of all things, and the extremes of things are the law of the evolution of all things. Ethically, Laozi advocates simplicity, selflessness, serenity, humility, gentleness, weakness and indifference.
Politically, Lao Tzu advocates doing nothing at home, not disturbing the people, living in peace with foreign countries and opposing war and violence. These three levels constitute the theme of Tao Te Ching.
At the same time, it also makes the book Tao Te Ching go through the logical layer of "physics to philosophy to ethics to politics", from the way of nature to the virtue of ethics, and finally settle in the idea and governance of ideal politics. That is, looking for the bright right path to the ideal social order from the natural order.