What is the Eternal Way in Taoism? 什么是常道

The Dao De Jing contains the line: "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao". From this, Wang Xuanlan of the Tang Dynasty divided the The Dao into two types: the "expressible Dao" and the "Eternal Dao", holding that the Eternal Dao gives birth to heaven and earth, while the expressible Dao gives birth to all things.

What is the Eternal Way in Taoism?

All things come into being and pass away, thus the expressible Dao is fickle and unsteady; heaven and earth endure forever, thus the Eternal Dao is unchanging. The expressible Dao is merely the form and appearance of things, while the Eternal Dao is their true essence. "The expressible Dao is the false Dao, and the Eternal Dao is the true Dao." As the "true and eternal Dao", the Eternal Dao also represents the supreme realm of Taoist cultivation. Therefore, Wang Xuanlan advocated that people should pursue the Eternal Dao to attain eternal life.

Nevertheless, despite the differences between the Eternal Dao and the expressible Dao, as the fundamental source of all living things, they are one and the same in essence. The two rise and perish interdependently as causal conditions for each other. Hence, "Not only is the expressible Dao manifest, but the Eternal Dao is also manifest; not only is the Eternal Dao eternal, but the expressible Dao is also eternal. Both come into being through mutual causation, yet their arising is without a source of arising; both perish through mutual causation, yet their perishing is without a source of perishing."