Chapter 76
"Alive, a man is supple, soft;
In death, unbending, rigorous.
All creatures, grass and trees, alive
Are plastic but are pliant too,
And dead, are friable and dry.
Unbending rigor is the mate of death,
And wielding softness, company of life:
Unbending soldiers get no victories;
The stiffest tree is readiest for the axe.
The strong and mighty topple from their place;
The soft and yielding rise above them all."
- Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 76
"When people are born they are supple, and when they die they are stiff..
When trees are born they are tender, and when they die they are brittle.
Stiffness is thus a companion of death, flexibility a companion of life.
So when an army is strong it doe not prevail. When a tree is strong, it is cut for use.
So the stiff and strong are below, the supple and yielding on top."
- Translated by Thomas Cleary, 1991, Chapter 76
"A man living is yielding and receptive.
Dying, he is rigid and inflexible.
All Things, the grass and trees:
Living, they are yielding and fragile;
Dying, they are dry and withered.
Thus those who are firm and inflexible
Are in harmony with dying.
Those who are yielding and receptive
Are in harmony with living.
Therefore an inflexible strategy will not triumph;
An inflexible tree will be attacked.
The position of the highly inflexible will descend;
The position of the yielding and receptive will ascend."
- Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 76
人之生也柔弱.
其死也堅強.
萬物草木之生也柔脆.
其死也枯槁.
故堅強者死之徒.
柔弱者生之徒.
是以兵強則不勝.
木強則共.
強大處下.
柔弱處上.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76
ren zhi sheng ye rou ruo.
qi si ye jian qiang.
cao mu zhi sheng ye rou cui.
qi si ye ku gao.
gu jian qiang zhe si zhi tu.
rou ruo zhe shang zhi tu.
shi yi bing qiang ze mie.
mu qiang ze zhe.
jian qiang chu xia.
rou ruo chu shang.
- Pinyin transliteration, Daodejing, Chapter 76
"Man, born tender and yielding,
Stiffens and hardens in death.
All living growth is pliant,
Until death transfixes it.
Thus men who have hardened are 'kin of death'
And men who stay gentle are 'kin of life.'
Thus a hard-hearted army is doomed to lose.
A tree hard-fleshed is cut down:
Down goes the tough and big,
Up comes the tender sprig."
- Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 76
"In life, man is soft and tender,
In death, he is rigid and hard.
In life, plants and trees are soft and pliant,
In death, they are withered and tough.
Thus rigidity and hardness are companions of death.
Softness and tenderness are companions of life.
That is why the soldier who trusts only in strength does not conquer,
The tree that relies on its strength invites the axe.
Great strength dwells below,
Softness and tenderness dwell above."
- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 76
"Cuando una persona está viva, es blanda y flexible.
Cuando está muerta, se vuelve dura y rígida.
Cuando una planta está viva, es blanda y tierna.
Cuando está muerta, se vuelve marchita y seca.
Por ello, lo duro y lo rígido son compañeros de lo muerto:
lo bando y lo fexible son compañeros de lo vivo.
Así pues, un ejército ponderoso tiende a caer por su propio peso,
al igual que la madera seca está lista para el hacha.
Lo grande y poderoso será colocado abajo; lo humilide y débil será honrado."
- Translated into English by John C. H. Wu, Spanish version by Alfonso Colodrón, 2007, Capitulo 76
"The living are soft and yielding;
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.
Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.
The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome."
- Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 76
Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
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