EXEGESIS

Daodejing 42·Classical Chinese

Dao gives birth to one

The wording is a cosmogony: Dao, one, two, three, the ten thousand things. Forty-two is the chapter’s seat in the received book, not a number-word in the sentence. The numbers that are in the sentence are 一, 二, 三, and 萬.

Keyed words are underlined. Touch one to open the form.

Daodejing 42, opening (Wang Bi chapter)