Laozi · Complete work
Chapter 14
Chapter 14 of 81. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
視之不見，名曰夷；聽之不聞，名曰希；搏之不得，名曰微。此三者不可致詰，故混而為一。其上不皦，其下不昧。繩繩不可名，復歸於無物。是謂無狀之狀，無物之象，是謂惚恍。迎之不見其首，隨之不見其後。執古之道，以御今之有。能知古始，是謂道紀。
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the original source for fidelity, modern clarity, beauty, symbolism, and structure.
Look for it but do not see it: name it the imperceptible;Listen for it but do not hear it: name it the inaudible;Reach for it but do not grasp it: name it the infinitesimal.These three cannot be pursued by questioning, and so they mingle into one.Above, it is not bright; below, it is not dark.Unbroken, unnameable, it returns again to no-thing.This is called the form without form, the image of no-thing; this is called the dim and wavering.Meet it, and you do not see its head; follow it, and you do not see its rear.Hold to the Way of antiquity to guide the beings of the present.To know the ancient beginning—this is called the thread of the Way.
OpenTao
Complete CC BY 4.0 translation made directly from the received Chinese text; source line structure preserved.
Look for it—you cannot see it; we call it the Even.Listen for it—you cannot hear it; we call it the Faint.Seize it—you cannot hold it; we call it the Minute.No questioning can reach the end of these three; mingled, they are one.Above, it is not bright; below, it is not dark.Strand after unbroken strand, beyond naming, it returns to no thing.We call it the shape of the shapeless, the image of no thing; we call it elusive and indistinct.Meet it face-on—you see no front; follow behind—you see no rear.Hold to the ancient Way, and use it to steer what now exists.Knowing the origin of origins is called the guiding thread of the Way.
James Legge (1891)
Complete public-domain translation made directly from the original source text.
1. We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it 'the Equable.' We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.' We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we name it 'the Subtle.' With these three qualities, it cannot be made the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and obtain The One.
2. Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure. Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless, and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and Indeterminable.
3. We meet it and do not see its Front; we follow it, and do not see its Back. When we can lay hold of the Tao of old to direct the things of the present day, and are able to know it as it was of old in the beginning, this is called (unwinding) the clue of Tao.