Translation in progress. Both English versions are original Fire Yoga editorial drafts. “Readable” may add interpretive wording; neither has completed specialist review.
Original · Chinese
道可道，非常道。
dào kě dào, fēi cháng dào
Readable translation
The Dao that can be put into words is not the enduring Dao.
Translation: Fire Yoga editorial · Draft
Reading notes & interpretation
The opening line plays on the range of meanings of dào. This rendering is provisional. The Dao De Jing should not be read as if it directly explained every later Neidan technique.
Source & attribution
Reading source: Dao De Jing · chapter 1 ↗
Original classical Chinese. Our opening-line rendering is an editorial draft; the text is not a manual of Neidan technique.
Original-language excerpt from a traditional work. English translations are newly drafted for this educational site. This page does not reproduce a full modern edition.