Daodejing Chapter 6: the mysterious feminine

The spirit of the valley never dies.
It is called the mysterious feminine.
The gateway of the mysterious feminine,
Is called the root of heaven and earth.
Like a fine slender thread,
It appears to go on forever.
No matter how much it is drawn upon,
It is never exhausted.

「谷神不死，是謂玄牝；玄牝之門，是謂天地根；綿綿若存，用之不勤。」

The Dao is the mother of all things. She is the “spirit of the valley” who “never dies” and the “mysterious feminine.” Heaven and earth stand at the entrance to her womb, which is so deep and fertile that “no matter how much it is drawn upon, it is never exhausted.” Her essence is so fine and slender that it can barely be discerned because it is a universal principle rather than a physical object.

Since the nature of the Dao more closely resembles the feminine (陰/yīn) than the masculine (陽/yáng), Laozi advised that the sage should adopt the same principle in leading his people. That means staying open and receptive to them like a valley rather than towering above them like a mountain and serving them with kindness and humility rather than dominating them though arrogance and fear.

Laozi was genuinely radical in evoking the spirit of the “mysterious feminine” as the ultimate source of creative power in the world. However, given the patriarchal society that he lived in, it should come as no surprise that this idea was not taken up by the ruling elite of the time (or indeed afterwards).

This is a pity, for all of us would do well to adopt a more humble and open-minded approach to how we lead our lives and interact with other people.

Note
I took this image at Longhu (Dragon Tiger) Mountain, a famous Daoist site about ten miles south of Yingtan in Jiangxi Province. A great place to visit!