Tao Te Ching Chapter 76
第76章
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，木強則兵。強大處下，柔弱處上。
Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.
Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of life.
Hence he who (relies on) the strength of his forces does not conquer; and a tree which is strong will fill the out-stretched arms, (and thereby invites the feller.)
Therefore the place of what is firm and strong is below, and that of what is soft and weak is above.
English: James Legge (1891), The Tâo Teh King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 39 (1891) — public domain. Chinese: Wang Bi recension (王弼本), commentary removed.
Character glossary
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 也yěalso, too
- 柔róusoft, supple; gentle; flexible
- 弱ruòweak, fragile, delicate
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 死sǐdead; death; impassable, inflexible
- 堅jiānhard, strong; firm, resolute
- 強qiángstrong, powerful, energetic
- 萬wànten thousand; innumerable
- 物wùthing, substance, matter; creature
- 草cǎograss, herbs; straw, thatch
- 木mùtree; wood, lumber; wooden
- 脆cuìfragile, frail; brittle, crisp
- 枯kūdried out, withered, decayed
- 槁gǎoto wither; withered, rotten, dead
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 徒túdisciple, follower; only, merely; in vai
- 是shìto be; indeed, right, yes; okay
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 處chùto reside at, to live in; place, locale;
- 下xiàbelow, underneath; inferior; to bring do
- 上shàngabove, on top, superior; to go up; to at
Similar passages
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 78
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 30
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi The Empire
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.