extraction.tao_teh_king.origin_mother_mystery
---
record_id: extraction.tao_teh_king.origin_mother_mystery
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/tao-teh-king-legge.md
passage_locator:
label: Tao Teh King, Ch. 1.1-4
start: Ch. 1.1
end: Ch. 1.4
translation: James Legge, Project Gutenberg eBook
notes: Source heading reads "Ch. 1. 1."; subsequent subsections are numbered 2-4.
canonical_text:
quote: |
The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name.
(Conceived of as) having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; (conceived of as) having a name, it is the Mother of all things.
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
Under these two aspects, it is really the same; but as development takes place, it receives the different names. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.
language: English
quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says the Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging
Tao.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage says the name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging
name.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Under the aspect of having no name, the Tao is called the Originator of heaven
and earth.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: Under the aspect of having a name, the Tao is called the Mother of all things.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:5
text: The passage associates absence of desire with sounding the deep mystery.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:6
text: The deepest Mystery is called the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Tao
description: Principle described through enduring, unnamed, named, originator, mother,
and mystery language.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
roles:
- id: role:1
label: originator of heaven and earth
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage explicitly calls the unnamed aspect "the Originator of heaven
and earth."
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: mother of all things
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage explicitly calls the named aspect "the Mother of all things."
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: unnamed Tao
literal_form: having no name
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: mother
literal_form: Mother of all things
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- mother_goddess
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: mystery
literal_form: the Mystery
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: gate
literal_form: gate of all that is subtle and wonderful
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Tao Teh King, Ch. 1.1-4
summary: The opening passage distinguishes the enduring Tao and name from speakable
forms, calls the unnamed aspect originator and the named aspect mother, and links
mystery with the gate of what is subtle and wonderful.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: cosmic origin
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage calls the unnamed Tao the Originator of heaven and earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is aphoristic and cosmological rather than a narrative creation
scene.
- id: motif:2
label: cosmic mother
taxonomy_refs:
- mother_goddess
basis: The passage calls the named Tao the Mother of all things.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: low
cautions: The taxonomy reference is broad; the passage uses mother imagery for the
Tao, not a personal goddess narrative.
- id: motif:3
label: hidden mystery as source-gate
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The passage names the deepest Mystery as the gate of all that is subtle and
wonderful.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage describes access to mystery, but does not present a quest
narrative.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage can be compared at the motif-function level to source-and-mother
motifs because the Tao is described as both originator of heaven and earth and
mother of all things.
claim_level: same_function
target: 'pattern atlas: cosmic source and mother motifs'
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: This is an internal motif comparison only; it does not imply historical
contact, common inheritance, or that Tao is a personal mother deity.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: Tao Teh King, Ch. 1.1-4
quote_or_summary: The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging
Tao... having no name, it is the Originator of heaven and earth; having a name,
it is the Mother of all things... Together we call them the Mystery.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/tao-teh-king-legge.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: Literal features are direct in the passage; broader motif mapping should
be reviewed.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
notes: Draft extraction; needs scholarly/human review before being treated as final.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Wave 2 extraction focused on Tao as origin, mother, and mystery.