The origin of Taoism traces back to epochs preceding Great Plainness and Great Commencement, in the age of the unstirred Primal Mist, when Heaven and Earth lay shrouded in formless obscurity, and Chaos first germinated. Within this void resided the Very Creator. The Creator initiated the formation of Heaven and Earth, established the Three Fundamental Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, and ordained cosmic order when neither sun nor moon yet cast light, when mountains and rivers lacked form, when principles lay hidden and images unmanifest, when the cosmos still existed in a state of undifferentiated murkiness, mirroring the vision described in the Book of Changes ‘unity before the trigrams were drawn’. Though formless and nameless, heaven, earth, humanity, and the myriad beings were created. What power could achieve such creation? Laozi first unveiled its essence, encompassing the Two Principles of Yin and Yang, and with deliberately named it the Dao. The divine agency that cleaved Chaos to open the heaven and earth, cannot be named. Thus, it was provisionally titled Original Commencement, giving rise to the appellation Celestial Worthy of Original Commencement —
the primordial ancestor of cosmic creation.
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