Laozi: Dao De Jing: Chapter 25

有物混成
先天地生。
寂兮寥兮
独立而不改
周行而不殆
可以为天地母。

吾不知其名
故强字之日道
强为之名日大。

大日逝，逝日远
远日返。
故道大，天大
地大，人亦大。

域中有四大
而人居其一焉。
人法地，地法天
天法道
道法自然。

You wu hun cheng
Xian tian di sheng.
Ji xi liao xi
Du li er bu gai
Zhou xing er bu dai
Ke yi wei tian di mu.

Wu bu zhi qi ming
Gu qiang zi zhi ri dao
Qiang wei zhi ming ri da.
Da ri shi, shi ri yuan
Yuan ri fan.

Gu dao da, tian da
Di da, ren yi da.
Yu zhong you si da
Er ren ju qi yi yan.

Ren fa di, di fa tian
Tian fa dao
Dao fa zi ran.

Chapter 25

The Dao is undifferentiated and all-embracing, yet manifests as a myriad and wide variety of things
Emerged innately before the creation of heaven and earth.
Being still and quiet, as well as formless, vast and empty
The Dao never ceases to travel in circular motions, but remains absolute
It may be considered the mother of all things under heaven.

We do not really know its name or identity
Which leads us to just call it “The Dao”
If forced to find another label, we could call it “Great”.

The eons of time pass away into oblivion
These distant eons of time eventually revert back to their opposite.

Therefore the Dao is great
Heaven is great
Earth is great
Humankind is also great.

These four great things within our domain
Man lives within this one situation.

Humankind follows the ways of the earth
The ways of the earth uses the methods of heaven
Heaven issues forth and distributes the Dao
The Dao develops and manifests spontaneity and the natural world.

Commentary:

Again Laozi, like in chapters one and forty, sets up the recursive movement of the Dao by it moving from one opposite to another, and then finally and ultimately returning back to its original state. This observation Laozi uses throughout the Dao De Jing, applying it to philosophy (metaphysics), the ebbs and flows of human nature, the human condition and the resultant societies. The force and movements are also dominant in the lives of individuals.

The Classic of the Dao: A New Investigation
By Wang Keping
Foreign Languages Press, Beijing 1998