Here, Laozi employs “the One” to symbolize an optimal state of harmony and integrity — a dynamic equilibrium rather than the Dao itself. This concept operates within a metaphysical duality: “the One” exists in dialectical tension with “the Not-One”, mirroring the interdependence and mutual transformation of all polarities. Through this framework, Laozi advocates rejecting extremism in favor of the Middle Way.
The things which from of old have got the One (the Dao) are –
Heaven which by it is bright and pure;
Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;
Spirits with powers by it supplied;
Valleys kept full throughout their void
All creatures which through it do live
Princes and kings who from it get
The model which to all they give.All these are the results of the One (Dao).
If heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;
If earth were not thus sure, it would break and bend;
Without these powers, the spirits soon would fail;
If not so filled, the drought would parch each vale;
Without that life, creatures would pass away;
Princes and kings, without that moral sway,
However grand and high, would all decay.Thus it is that dignity finds its (firm) root in its (previous) meanness, and what is lofty finds its stability in the lowness (from which it rises). Hence princes and kings call themselves ‘Orphans,’ ‘Men of small virtue,’ and as ‘Carriages without a nave.’ Is not this an acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they see the foundation of their dignity? So it is that in the enumeration of the different parts of a carriage we do not come on what makes it answer the ends of a carriage. They do not wish to show themselves elegant-looking as jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an (ordinary) stone.
Further Reading
In the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching, the statement “The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things” distinguishes between the noumenon of the Tao (the nameless) and the phenomenal world (the named), defining the transcendence of the Tao from a philosophical perspective. Chapter Thirty-Nine, through a layered exposition of “heaven, earth, spirits, valleys, all things, and rulers,” reveals the unity of “the One” (the Tao) as the root of all things. Together, they point to the ontological framework of “the Tao giving birth to all things.”
Chapter Forty proposes that “Reversal is the movement of the Tao; weakness is the function of the Tao,” emphasizing the cyclical nature of the Tao’s motion. This resonates with Chapter Thirty-Nine’s statement that “The noble takes the humble as its foundation; the high takes the low as its base.” Together, they point to the philosophical core of Taoism – the “unity of opposites.”
昔之得一者，天得一以清；地得一以宁；神得一以灵；谷得一以盈，万物得一以生；侯王得一以为天下正。其致之也，谓天无以清，将恐裂；地无以宁，将恐废；神无以灵，将恐歇；谷无以盈，将恐竭；万物无以生，将恐灭；侯王无以正，将恐蹶。故贵以贱为本，高以下为基。是以侯王自谓孤、寡、不榖。此非以贱为本邪？非乎？故至誉无誉。是故不欲琭琭如玉，珞珞如石。
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