There was something all murky shadow,
born before heaven and earth:
o such utter silence, utter emptiness.
Isolate and changeless,
it moves everywhere without fail:
picture the mother of all beneath heaven.
I don’t know its name.
I’ll call it Way,
and if I must name it, name it Vast.
Vast means it’s passing beyond,
passing beyond means it’s gone far away,
and gone far away means it’s come back.
Because Way is vast
heaven is vast,
earth is vast,
and the true emperor too is vast.
In this realm, there are four vast things,
and the true emperor is one of them.
Human abides by earth.
Earth abides by heaven.
Heaven abides by Way.
Way abides by occurrence appearing of itself.