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Chapter 4 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

  • Our next nugget of wisdom is that the Tao is empty.
  • But it's not like empty empty, because it's also the source of all things.
  • Eventually, the Tao has its way with everything.
  • Sharp things gets dull.
  • Knots come loose.
  • Lights go dim.
  • The dust of everything mixes together.
  • You could see this as a "time heals all" or a "time destroys all" kind of thought.
  • Since the Tao is everything, it's hard to recognize… but it still exists.
  • Nobody knows where it comes from because it is older than everything.
  • It's even older than the Emperor, which probably references the Jade Emperor, the ultimate god in ancient Chinese Mythology.
  • (Wow, so the Tao is older than God. We wonder if it needs a wheelchair ramp to get into its house.)