Taiyi Shengshui is an ancient Chinese text written around 300 BC during the Warring States period. It is part of the Guodian Chu Slips.
It is a Taoist creation myth. According to the transcription and translation by professors Wen Xing and Robert G. Henricks of Dartmouth College, the opening lines are:
Chinese: 太一生水， 水反輔太一， 是以成天。天反輔太一，是以成地。 天地（復相輔）也， 是以成神明。 神明復相輔也， 是以成陰陽。[1]The Great One (Taiyi) gave birth to water.Water returned and assisted Taiyi,in this way developing heaven. Heaven returned and assisted Taiyi, in this way developing the earth.Heaven and earth [repeatedly assisted each other],in this way developing the "gods above and below."The "gods above and below" repeatedly assisted each other,in this way developing Yin and Yang.[2]
The Taiyi Shengshui was written on 14 bamboo strips and was discovered among the Guodian Chu Slips in 1993 in Hubei, Jingmen, and has not been discovered anywhere else.[3] The text's inclusion in the Guodian "Laozi C" bundle has led some scholars to suggest it may have been considered part of the Tao Te Ching.