Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative
Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
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The opening
I.
The Tao, or Principle of Nature, may be discussed [by all]; it is not the popular or common Tao — [e.g, the tao-li of ethics, dealing with the and the
Its Name may be named [i.e., the Tao may receive a designation, though of itself it has none]; but it is not an ordinary name, [or name in the usual sense of the word, for it is a presentment or eiduXov of the Infinite].
Its nameless period was that which preceded the birth of the Universe, [the;
In being spoken of by name, it is as the Progenitrix of All Things, [the period of the which divided and produced the
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About this edition
- The words
- Frederic Henry Balfour's English translation, copied word for word.
- Left out
- Page numbers and running heads from the printed pages, in 22 places
- The library's stamps and shelf marks on the scanned copy (University of Toronto, East Asian Library) (17 blocks)
- Archive.org's notice: “Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from University of Toronto” (2 blocks)
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 17 places
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1
- The printed table of contents (the app makes its own)
- Other material that isn't the author's, in 4 places
- A stray scan mark (a bullet “•”) standing alone or stuck to a word's edge
- A stray scan mark (a comma opening the paragraph, before its first word)
- Printed ornaments and dividers
- Closing line “THE END.”
- The printer's imprint (“Shanghai: Printed at the ‘North-China Herald’ Office. 1884.”) (3 blocks)
- The library's book pocket and stamps on the scanned copy (University of Toronto Library) (11 blocks)