Chapter XIV
(Chapter 14)

Ko Yuen Translation The Shewing-forth of the Mystery
1.	We look at it, and see it not; though it is Omnipresent; and we name it the Root-Balance¹. We listen for it, and hear it not, though it is Omniscient; and we name it the Silence². We feel for it, and touch it not, though it is Omnipotent; and we name it the Concealed³. These three Virtues hath it, yet we cannot describe it as consisting of them; but, mingling them aright, we apprehend the One.
2.	Above, it shineth not; below, it is not dark. It moveth all continuously, without Expression, returning into Naught. It is the Form of That which is beyond Form; it is the Image of the Invisible; it is Change, and Without Limit⁴.
3.	We confront it, and see not its Face; we pursue it, and its Back is hidden from us. Ah! but apply the Tao as in old Time to the work of the present; know it as it was known in the Beginning; follow fervently the Thread of the Tao.

S. Mitchell Translation

Look, and it can't be seen.
Listen, and it can't be heard.
Reach, and it can't be grasped.

Above, it isn't bright.
Below, it isn't dark.
Seamless, unnamable,
it returns to the realm of nothing.
Form that includes all forms,
image without an image,
subtle, beyond all conception.

Approach it and there is no beginning;
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
at ease in your own life.
Just realize where you come from:
this is the essence of wisdom.

James Legge Translation
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.

GNL not Lao Interpolation

Mystery

Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.

In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what does not exist;
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name silence;
Follow it, it has no back,
Meet it, it has no face.

Attend the present to deal with the past;
Thus you grasp the continuity of the Way,
Which is its essence.

Tao Teh King
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Ko Yuen Commentary
1.	Hadit, the root of Yod. Return to text
2.	Nuit, the root of He. Return to text
3.	Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Kether, the root of Vau. W.E. Heidrick Note: This appears questionable, as the root of Vau and the Sun god both pertain to Tipheret. Return to text
4.	Cf. Ain, Ain Soph, Ain Soph Aur. Also see "Book of Wisdom or Folly". Return to text

Tao Teh King
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Chapter XIV(Chapter 14)

Ko Yuen Translation

The Shewing-forth of the Mystery

S. Mitchell Translation

James Legge Translation

GNL not Lao Interpolation

Mystery

Ko Yuen Commentary

Chapter XIV
(Chapter 14)