Laozi: Dao De Jing: Chapter 4
道 盅， 而 用 之 或 不 盈。
渊 兮， 似 物 之 宗；
湛 兮， 似 或 存。
吾 不 知 其 谁 之 子
象 帝 之 先。
Dao zhong, er yong zhi huo bu ying.
Yuan xi, si wu zhi zong;
Zhan xi, si hou cun.
Wu bu zhi qi shei zhi zi
Xiang di zhi xian.
Chapter 4
The Dao is like a handle-less cup, when used it can never be filled.
Deep and well below the surface, it appears like an ancestral model and reproductive force;
Profound and hidden, yet it appears to exist when manifested
We do not know of its origin or progenitor
Perhaps it is a copy of something that appeared before our concept of a
Supreme Being.
Commentary:
The emptiness of the Dao contains much. It is a force that is hidden, remote, profound, and yet massively generative.
The Classic of the Dao: A New Investigation
By Wang Keping
Foreign Languages Press, Beijing 1998