DAO DE JING · THE DE
Chapter 40
反者道之動，
弱者道之用。
天下萬物生於有，有生於無。
JAMES LEGGE · ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1.
The movement of the Tao By contraries proceeds; And weakness marks the course Of Tao's mighty deeds.
2. All things under heaven sprang from It as existing (and named); that existence sprang from It as non-existent (and not named).
About these texts
The Chinese follows the Wang Bi recension in the Sibu Beiyao edition, transcribed on Wikisource. The English is James Legge’s translation.
They are paired by chapter number. Wording and punctuation can differ between editions. The historical text and translation are distinct from any AI reflection.
The Chinese transcription is adapted by extracting chapter text and omitting commentary. Editorial contributions are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; the historical work is public domain. English source: Project Gutenberg, ebook 216; the underlying Legge translation is public domain in the USA.