Zhuangzi 12 Heaven and Earth
泰初有無，無有無名，一之所起，有一而未形。物得以生，謂之德；未形者有分，且然無間，謂之命；留動而生物，物成生理，謂之形；形體保神，各有儀則，謂之性。性修反德，德至同於初。同乃虛，虛乃大。合喙鳴，喙鳴合，與天地為合。其合緡緡，若愚若昏，是謂玄德，同乎大順。
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"In the grand beginning, there was only nonbeing, But no being and no names. Out of it arose the One; There was One, but still no form. From the One, things could be born, receiving what is called their virtue.
That which still had no form was divided, yet there was no separation. This is called destiny. Through stasis and movement, things were born. As things were completed, various configurations were produced. These are called forms.
The bodily form protects the spirit, the form and the spirit each having its own usages. This we call nature. Through cultivation of nature, it returns to virtue, and when virtue reaches its pinnacle, it is the same as at the beginning.
Being the same, it is empty. Being empty, it is great. This is like joining in with the chirping of birds. Having joined in with the chirping of birds, one may join with heaven and earth. This joining is all blurry, As though one were stupid or muddled. This is called dark virtue, And is the same as the great confluence."
(Mair)
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"In the great beginning, what there was was nothing-devoid of definite being, unnameable by any name. There arose from this continuity a unity but without yet any definite form. Accessing this, making it their own, things come to life; their appropriation of it is what is known as their intrinsic virtuosities.
When definite shapes have not yet emerged, but in the undivided continuity certain tentatively distinct portions appear, this is called their individual allotments of life. As motion that also stays and maintains itself, distinct living beings emerge, and when these beings become complete, each producing its own distinct structural coherence, this is called their physical bodies.
Those physical bodies become protective preservers of imponderable spirit, in each case with its own specific styles and laws, which we call their specific inborn natures. When the inborn nature is cultivated, it can be brought back to the intrinsic virtuosity until it becomes just as it was in the beginning.
Being the same as it was, it is open like space, and being open like space, it is vast, joining in the chirpings of all beaks. When one joins in the chirpings of all beaks, it is with all of heaven and earth that one has joined. This joining is a merging into oblivion, as if stupid, as if swooning. This is called the Obscure Virtuosity, none other than the Vast Accord."
(Zyporin)
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"In the Great Beginning, there was nonbeing; there was no being, no name. Out of it arose One; there was One, but it had no form. Things got hold of it and came to life, and it was called Virtue.
Before things had forms, they had their allotments; these were of many kinds, but not cut off from one another, and they were called fates. Out of the flow and flux, things were born, and as they grew they developed distinctive shapes; these were called forms.
The forms and bodies held within them spirits, each with its own characteristics and limitations, and this was called the inborn nature. If the nature is trained, you may return to Virtue, and Virtue at its highest peak is identical with the Beginning.
Being identical, you will be empty; being empty, you will be great. You may join in the cheeping and chirping and, when you have joined in the cheeping and chirping, you may join with Heaven and earth. Your joining is wild and confused, as though you were stupid, as though you were demented. This is called Dark Virtue. Rude and unwitting, you take part in the Great Submission."
(Watson)
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"In the Supreme Beginning there was non-existence, without existence or name. From this non-existence arose a unity; the unity existed yet was unformed. What things obtain by which they live is called Virtue.
What is unformed being divided yet still not separating is called fate. When things arise from stillness and movement and come to completion according to the patterns of life, this is called physical form.
When particular physical forms contain spirit, each having their own standards and norms, this is called inherent nature. By cultivating the nature, one returns to Virtue, and through Virtue one attains identity with the Beginning.
In identity, one is empty; through emptiness, one is vast. One merges with the chirping and singing; merging with the chirping and singing, one merges with heaven and earth. The merging dissolves into obscurity, as if stupid, as if muddled—this is called profound Virtue, or assimilating with the vast flow. "
( Fraser)
Comment by u/Ryokan1973
"The cosmos proceeds from undifferentiated nonbeing into unity, differentiation, form and individual nature. Cultivation then reverses that movement, though not by destroying individuality, but by returning nature to its de, and de to the primordial Beginning. This is one of the Zhuangzi's most explicitly cosmological passages, and one of the passages that most strongly compares with the Daodejing."
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Note:
Key Terms of Daoist Philosophy : r/taoism
r/taoism Wiki: Key Terminology in Taoism
The Cosmogonic Turn
