Chapter 1
The Tao that can be spoken is not the Eternal Tao;
The Name that is named is not the Eternal Name.
The Nameless is the beginning of everything;
The Named are parents of countless things.
Therefore:
Constantly without wanting experience its vastness.
Constantly with desire stumble on its limits.
These two emerge as one but differ in name.
Together they are called profound;
Beyond mysterious, the gateway to countless wonders.
------------Background------------
The Tao Te Ching (TTC) has been widely translated. I posted my best effort at a literal translation. Many published authors take a poetic, interpretive approach, while few take a literal approach. The issue is that the TTC is painstakingly precise.
The poetic interpretations are often flighty, wispy, and incomplete. At worst, they introduce ideas that would be completely foreign to the original. An exception to this would be Ron Hogan's translation, which is remarkable for staying so true to the original in meaning.
As far as literal translations, my favorite is the one published by Derek Lin. I began almost twenty years ago to create a literal translation of the first chapter from Traditional Chinese to English using dictionaries and existing translations. I was thrilled when I found Derek Lin's translation. I highly recommend it.