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Chapter 76

人之生也柔弱

人rén之zhī生shēng也yě柔róu弱ruò，
其qí死sǐ也yě坚jiān强qiáng。
草cǎo木mù之zhī生shēng也yě柔róu脆cuì，
其qí死sǐ也yě枯kū槁gǎo。
故gù坚jiān强qiáng者zhě死sǐ之zhī徒tú，
柔róu弱ruò者zhě生shēng之zhī徒tú。
是shì以yǐ兵bīng强qiáng则zé灭miè，
木mù强qiáng则zé折zhé。
强qiáng大dà处chǔ下xià，
柔róu弱ruò处chǔ上shàng。

a> When born, people are pliant and weak; when they die they are stiff and strong. The things of the world, such as trees and grasses, are born pliant and fragile; they die shriveled and dry.

b> Thus the hard and strong are followers of death; the pliant and weak are followers of life.

c> Therefore, when a weapon is strong it cannot conquer; when a tree is strong it is put to the axe. The strong and great dwell below; the pliant and weak dwell above.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.