第四十二章     道生萬物

道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。萬物負陰而抱陽，沖氣以為和。
人之所惡，唯孤、寡、不谷，而王公以為稱。 故物或損之而益，或益之而損。
人之所教我亦教之。強梁者不得其死，吾將以為教父。

Tao Gives Birth to AllThings

Tao gives birth to One.

One gives birth to Two.

Two gives birth to Three.

Three gives birth to all creation.

All things have thereceptivity of the female and the activity of the male. Through union with thelife force they blend in harmony.

People hate being orphaned, lonely, and unworthy. Yet kings andnobles call themselves such.

Truly, one may gain bylosing; And one may lose by gaining.

What another has taught, Ialso teach: "A violent man will not reach hisnatural end."  I shall make thisprimary in my teaching.

[譯文]

道的純意識能量化生一個循環宇宙磁場，在這一磁場中化生出陰、陽二氣，陰陽相交形成無限生命循環，由此繁衍宇宙間的萬物。宇宙萬物都包含著陰和陽，陰陽交匯激蕩而成為新的平衡體。人類所厭惡的就是“孤”、“寡”、“不谷”，而侯王們卻恰恰這樣稱呼自己。因此，宇宙間萬物有時減損而獲得增加，而增加反而受到減損。其實，前人如此教導， 我亦依此理教授。