Chapter 14

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。

Looked at, it is not seen: it is called the faint;
listened to, it is not heard: it is called the hushed;
grasped at, it is not held: it is called the subtle.
These three cannot be questioned to the end, and so they blend into one.
Its top is not bright, its bottom is not dark.
Endless and unbroken, it cannot be named; it returns again to nothing.
This is called the shape without shape, the image of nothing; it is called blurred and dim.
Go to meet it, and there is no head to see; follow it, and there is no back to see.
Hold to the Way of old to master what is here now.
To know the ancient beginning: this is called the guiding thread of the Way.