English and Chinese (Wade-Giles) Terms:
Grass (ts'ao), Trees (mu),
Soft and Supple is Best, Stay or Stop or Rest (ch'u), Companion or
Comrade (t'u), Man or Person (jên), Yielding is Wise, Tenderness, Army or
Soldiers (ping), Growing or Born (shêng), Withered, Weak or Gentle (jo), Dry, Rigid
or Decayed (k'u), Yielding, Unyielding or Stiff (ch'iang), Below
or Lower or Beneath (hsia),
Caution Against Strength, Military Power, Tender or Soft or Pliant (jou), Flexibility, Death
(ssu), Delicate or Supple (ts'ui), Above or Higher or Superior (shang), Beware of Strength,
Ten Thousand (wan), Things or Beings (wu), Fell, Chop Down,
Weapons, Hard or Stiff or Rigid (chien), Dry or Rotten (kao),
Great or Big (ta), 戒強
Términos en Español: Árboles, Hierba, Suave y Flexible es Mejor, Estancia, Parada, Descanso, Compañero, Hombre, Persona, Ceder, Ternura, Ejército, Creciente, Nacido, Marchito, Débil, Suave, Rígido, Decaído, Inflexible, Inferior, Esconde, Precación, Fuerza, Potencia Militar, Pliant, Flexibilidad, Muerte, Delicado, Por Encima, Superior, Guardaos de Fuerza, Diez Mil, Cosas, Tronchar, Armas, Duro, Seco, Podrido, Grande.
"At birth, a man is soft and weak.
At death, he is strong and powerful.
From grass to trees, all things begin life weak and frail.
At death, they are withered and dry.
Therefore, the Strong and Powerful are disciples of Death.
The Soft and Weak are disciples of Life.
Thus military strength does not ensure Victory.
A tree's strength is like the army;
the Big and Strong decline,
the Soft and Weak prevail."
- Translation by Karl Kromal, Chapter 76
"Man alive is tender, gentle,
Hard and fast in death.
Living plants are tender, fragile,
Dry and frail in death.
For fast and hard are marks of dying,
And gentle, tender marks of life.
Strength in arms bring destruction,
And the strong branch will be broken.
Let strength and might be put below,
And tender, gentle in control."
- Translated by Moss Roberts, 2001, 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
Tao Te Ching Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo
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"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
Stiffness and unyielding are death’s companions.
Softness and yielding are life’s companions.
Unyielding armies will not win.
Unyielding trees become weapons.
Great strength dwells below.
Weakness dwells above."
- Translated by Alan Sheets, 2002, 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.
A rigid tree thus will break.
What is rigidly large dwells below;
What is soft, yielding, flexible and fragile dwells above."
"Man, born tender
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
Walking the Way: 81 Zen Encounters with the Tao Te Ching by Robert Meikyo Rosenbaum
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"Human beings are soft and supple when alive, stiff and
straight when dead.
The myriad creatures, the grasses and trees are soft and fragile when alive, dry and withered when dead.
Therefore, it is said:
The rigid person is a disciple of death;
The soft, supple, and delicate are lovers of life.
An army that is inflexible will not conquer;
A tree that is inflexible will snap.
The unyielding and mighty shall be brought low;
The soft, supple, and delicate will be set above."
- Translated by Victor H. Mair, Chapter 76
"Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plats are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.
- Translated by Stephen Mitchell, 1988, Chapter 76
"When people are born they are gentle and soft.
At death they are hard and stiff.
When plants are alive they are soft and delicate.
When they die, they wither and dry up.
Therefore the hard and stiff are followers of death.
The gentle and soft are the followers of life.
Thus, if you are aggressive and stiff, you won't win.
When a tree is hard enough, it is cut. Therefore
The hard and big are lesser,
The gentle and soft are greater."
- Translated by Charles Muller, Chapter 76
"People are soft and weak in life,
hard and strong in death.
The ten thousand plants and trees are soft and frail in life,
withered and brittle in death.
Things hard and strong follow death's ways and things soft and weak follow life's:
so it is that strong armies never overcome and strong trees always suffer the axe.
Things great and strong dwell below.
Things soft and weak dwell above."
- Translated by David Hinton, Chapter 76
"Man at his birth is supple and weak: at his death, firm
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 outstretched 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."
- Translated by Andre Gauthier, Chapter 76
"the ancient child asks
how do you get out of the body-mind's way and let it live
by allowing your soul to take the lead of your life
the ancient child asks
how do you let the soul take the lead of your life
be as gentle and tender as a newborn
soft, yielding, supple, and full of life force
avoid stiffness, rigidity, and naked force
emulate the living things in the world delicately
avoid hardening your bodymind and spirit
avoid those unyielding things that stink of decay
embody those things that are tender and pliant
which grant life and freedom
avoid mustering your talents and collecting your strengths
in a forceful or headstrong manner
an unyielding tree will snap under a strong wind
or fall easily under a dull axe
pattern yourself after a great tree
will deep roots and strong branches
and you will exalt your bodymind and spirit."
"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
"Men, when born, are weak and soft; when
dead, they are stiff and hard.
When inanimate object say, the vegetable creation first produced, they are soft and tender; when dead, they are hard and dry.
Wherefore hardness and rigidity are associated with death; softness and weakness with life.
So, when soldiers are violent, they gain no victories; when the tree is strong, a combination of strength is used to fell it.
Its big parts are below; its soft and tender parts above."
- Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 76
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"Man in his life is tender and weak,
"Man when living is soft and tender; when dead he is hard and tough.
All animals and plants when living are tender and fragile; when dead they become withered and dry. Therefore it is said: the hard and the tough are parts of death, the soft and the tender are parts of life.
This is the reason why soldiers when they are too tough cannot carry the day; the tree when it is too tough will break.
The position of the strong and great is low, and the position of the weak and tender is high."
- Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 76
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The Book of Tao: Tao Te Ching - The Tao and Its Characteristics Translated by James Legge
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"Man at his birth is supple and tender, but in death he is rigid and strong.
It is the same with everything.
Trees and plants in their early growth are pliant and soft, but at the end they are withered and tough.
Thus rigidity and strength are concomitants of death, but softness and gentleness are companions of life.
Therefore the warrior who relies on his strength cannot conquer death, while the powerful tree becomes a mere timber support.
For the place of the strong and the firm is below, while that of the gentle and yielding is above."
- Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 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."
"At birth man is supple and weak, at
death rigid and strong.
So with inanimate nature.
Say the vegetable creation, in its early growth it is pliable and brittle, at death it is decayed and withered.
It follows that rigidity and strength are the way to death; pliability and gentleness the way to life.
Hence a soldier who is arrogant cannot conquer; the tree which is strong is doomed.
The firm and the great occupy the lower place, the pliable and the meek the higher."
Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition By Jonathan Star. Translation, commentary and research tools. New York, Jeremy P. Tarcher, Penguin, 2001. Concordance, tables, appendices, 349 pages. A new rendition of the Tao Te Ching is provided, then a verbatim translation with extensive notes. Detailed tables for each verse provide line number, all the Chinese characters, Wade-Giles Romanization, and a list of meanings for each character. An excellent print reference tool!
Two Visions of the Way: A Study of the Wang Pi and the Ho-Shang Kung Commentaries on the Lao-Tzu. By Professor by Alan Kam-Leung Chan. SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. State University of New York Press, 1991. Index, bibliography, glossary, notes, 314 pages. ISBN: 0791404560.
Chinese Reading of the Daodejing Wang Bi's Commentary on the Laozi with Critical Text and Translation. By Professor Rudolf G. Wagner. A SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. English and Mandarin Chinese Edition. State University of New York Press; Bilingual edition (October 2003). 540 pages. ISBN: 978-0791451823. Wang Bi (Wang Pi, Fusi), 226-249 CE, Commentary on the Tao Te Ching.
Chapter 76 in the Rambling Taoist Commentaries by Trey Smith. The Rambling Taoists are Trey Smith and Scott Bradley.
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Das Tao Te King von Lao Tse The largest collection of very nicely formatted complete versions of the Tao Te Ching. The collection includes 209 complete versions in 27 languages, plus 28 Chinese versions. There are 112 English language versions of the Tao Te Ching available at this website. A variety of search methods and comparison methods are provided, as well a a detailed index. Offline as of 25 May 2013.
Tao Te Ching English Translations from Terebess Asia Online. Over 30 translations.
Lao-tzu's Taoteching Translated by Red Pine (Bill Porter). Includes many brief selected commentaries for each Chapter draw from commentaries in the past 2,000 years. Provides a verbatim translation and shows the text in Chinese characters. San Francisco, Mercury House, 1996, Second Edition, 184 pages. An invaluable resource for commentaries.
Reading Lao Tzu: A Companion to the Tao Te Ching with a New Translation By Ha Poong Kim. Xlibris, 2003, 198 pages.
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Thematic Index to the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu: Te-Tao Ching - A New Translation Based on the Recently Discovered Ma-wang-tui Texts (Classics of Ancient China) Translated with and introduction and detailed exposition and commentary by Professor Robert G. Henricks. New York, Ballantine Books, 1992. Includes Chinese characters for each chapter. Bibliography, detailed notes, 282 pages.
Lieh-Tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living. Translated by Eva Wong. Lieh-Tzu was writing around 450 BCE. Boston, Shambhala, 2001. Introduction, 246 pages.
Revealing the Tao Te Ching: In-depth Commentaries on an Ancient Classic. By Hu Huezhi. Edited by Jesse Lee Parker. Seven Star Communications, 2006. 240 pages.
Cloud Hands Blog Mike Garofalo writes about Taoism, Gardening, Taijiquan, Walking, Mysticism, Qigong, and the Eight Ways.
Tao Te Ching: A New Translation and Commentary. By Ellen Chen. Paragon House, 1998. Detailed glossary, index, bibliography, notes, 274 pages.
The Tao and Method: A Reasoned Approach to the Tao Te Ching. By Michael Lafargue. New York, SUNY Press, 1994. 640 pages. Detailed index, bibliography, notes, and tables. An essential research tool.
The Whole Heart of Tao: The Complete Teachings From the Oral Tradition of Lao Tzu. By John Bright-Fey. Crane Hill Publishers, 2006. 376 pages.
Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.
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