Classical Text 古典文獻 · Dao De Jing 道德經
Chapter 4 — The Empty Source
無源
Part I — The Dao 上篇·道經
Original Verse
原文
道沖，而用之或不盈。
淵兮，似萬物之宗；
挫其銳，解其紛，和其光，同其塵。
湛兮，似或存。
吾不知誰之子，象帝之先。
English Translation
英譯
The Dao is empty, yet in use it is never exhausted.
Fathomless! Like the ancestor of the ten thousand things.
It blunts the sharpness;
It unties the knots;
It softens the glare;
It becomes one with the dust.
Deep and still! As if it has always existed.
I do not know whose child it is;
It seems to have preceded even the Emperor of Heaven.
Liuren Fajiao Commentary
六壬法教注疏
In Liuren Fajiao, this chapter describes the state of a true master. "Blunting the sharpness" and "Softening the glare" (和其光) refers to the practice of Yincang (隱藏)—hiding one's spiritual power and cultivation. A practitioner does not seek to dazzle others with magic but remains humble and "one with the dust" (同其塵) of the common world.
The Dao is "Empty" (沖), meaning it is a vacuum of infinite potential. When we perform rituals, we tap into this "淵" (Abyss/Fathomless) source. The power is never exhausted because it doesn't come from the practitioner's limited physical energy, but from the "Ancestor of all things."
The reference to being "preceding the Emperor of Heaven" (象帝之先) reminds us that the Dao exists before and beyond any personified deity. Our rituals connect us to these primordial currents that govern the universe itself.
Source: Dao De Jing (道德經), Chapter 4