Translation:
The form of virtue is determined by Tao. Tao has no definite fixed entity. It is so trance, but there is an image in it. This is so trance-like, but there is something in it. It is so abstruse and obscure, but it has essence; This essence is the most real, and this essence can be trusted. From today to ancient times, its name can never be abolished. According to it, we can observe the beginning of everything. How do I know how it all started? I learned it from Tao.
Tao Te Ching is a philosophical work of Lao Zi (Li Er) in the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as Tao Te Ching, Lao Zi's Five Thousand Words and Lao Zi's Five Thousand Articles. It is a work before the separation of pre-Qin philosophers in ancient China and an important source of Taoist philosophical thoughts. Tao Te Ching is divided into two parts. The first part of the original text is the Tao Te Ching, and the second part is the Tao Te Ching, without chapters. Later, it was changed to the Tao Te Ching in the first 37 chapters, and the Tao Te Ching in the last 38 chapters, divided into 8 1 chapters.
The text of Tao Te Ching takes "morality" in the philosophical sense as the main line, and discusses the ways of self-cultivation, governing the country, using troops and keeping in good health, but most of them aim at politics. It is the so-called "inner sage and outer king", known as the king of all classics, with profound meaning and wide tolerance.
Classic of Virtue is one of the greatest masterpieces in China's history, which has a profound influence on traditional philosophy, science, politics and religion. According to the statistics of UNESCO, the Tao Te Ching is the most widely translated and published cultural masterpiece except the Bible.