[TTC Study] Chapter 76 of the Tao Teh Ching

[Marblehead]

Chapter 76

 

John Wu

 

When a man is living, he is soft and supple.

When he is dead, he becomes hard and rigid.

When a plant is living, it is soft and tender.

When it is dead, it becomes withered and dry.

Hence, the hard and rigid belongs to the company of the dead:

The soft and supple belongs to the company of the living.

Therefore, a mighty army tends to fall by its own weight,

Just as dry wood is ready for the axe.

The mighty and great will be laid low;

The humble and weak will be exalted.

 

 

English/Feng

 

A man is born gentle and weak.

At his death he is hard and stiff.

Green plants are tender and filled with sap.

At their death they are withered and dry.

Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.

The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.

Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.

A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

The hard and strong will fall.

The soft and weak will overcome.

 

 

Robert Henricks

 

When people are born, they're supple and soft;

Whey they die, they end up stretched out firm and rigid;

When the ten thousand things and grasses and trees are alive, they're supple and pliant;

When they're dead, they're withered and dried out.

Therefore we say that the firm and rigid are compassions of death,

While the supple, the soft, the weak, and the delicate are compassions of life.

If a soldier is rigid, he won't win;

If a tree is rigid, it will come to its end.

Rigidity and power occupy the inferior position;

Suppleness, softness, weakness, and delicateness occupy the superior position.

 

 

 

Questions? Comments?

 

Hehehe. There's that special word again: Weak Think flexible!!!!

[Apech]

On the last two/three lines Wang Bi adds commentary:

 

If a tree is stiff, it will be attacked,

It will be imposed on by creatures

The stiff [strong] and great occupy a position below.

This refers to the trunk of the tree.

The soft and pliant occupy a position above.

This refers to the branches.

[Marblehead]

 

The soft and pliant occupy a position above.

 

 

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!

[ChiDragon]

Chapter 76

1. People are born supple.

2. They become stiff upon death.

4. Grasses and trees are soft and brittle while alive,

4. They become dried and withered upon death.

5. Hence, those things that are rigid were attributed as non-living;

6. And those things that are weak were attributed as alive.

7. If a military force is strong, then it will be exterminated.

8. And when the trees are full grown will be cut down.

9. Hence, those that are vigorous were dwelling in a inferior position.

10. And those that are feeble were dwelling in a superior position.

 

 

Chapter 76

1. 人 之 生 也 柔 弱,

2. 其 死 也 堅 強 。

3. 草 木 之 生 也 柔 脆 ,

4. 其 死 也 枯 槁 。

5. 故 堅 強 者 死 之 徒 ,

6. 柔 弱 者 生 之 徒 。

7. 是 以 兵 強 則 滅 ,

8. 木 強 則 折 。

9. 強 大 處 下 ,

10.柔 弱 處 上 。

[Marblehead]

Chapter 76

1. People are born supple.

2. They become stiff upon death.

4. Grasses and trees are soft and brittle while alive,

4. They become dried and withered upon death.

5. Hence, those things that are rigid were attributed as non-living;

6. And those things that are weak were attributed as alive.

7. If a military force is strong, then it will be exterminated.

8. And when the trees are full grown will be cut down.

9. Hence, those that are vigorous were dwelling in a inferior position.

10. And those that are feeble were dwelling in a superior position.

 

Did you know that I wasn't going to like that at all? Hehehe.

 

Logic must apply. Sorry.

[ChiDragon]

Did you know that I wasn't going to like that at all? Hehehe.

 

Logic must apply. Sorry.

 

I know the way this chapter was written is hard to have an acceptable translation in English....

[Marblehead]

I know the way this chapter was written is hard to have an acceptable translation in English....

 

Hehehe.

 

The important thing is whether or not we grasp the concept being presented. The concept is an excellent one and worthy of incorporating into one's life philosophy.

[ChiDragon]

Since this is a difficult chapter, my source suggested to go to other chapters for some ideas.

 

To have a better conceptual understanding of Chapter 76, it's wise to follow up on Chapters 36, 43 and 78 regarding to the softness overcome the hardness.

Edited October 6, 2011 by ChiDragon

[XieJia]

Wu Wei concepts echoes throughout the DDJ,

chapter 76 flows nicely from the previous chapters that we tackled.

 

Yin and Yang flowing; thus the sky is atop and earth below.

 

The Ultimate Yang in its nature Yin, the Ultimate Yin in its nature Yang.

 

The things manifested, destroyed. Names created, forgotten.

 

Yin Yang flows back and forth.

 

Throw your arms up and out and breath ahhhhh....

 

Life and Death... Transient (Apogolies for a Buddhist flavor here)

[Marblehead]

Life and Death... Transient (Apogolies for a Buddhist flavor here)

 

Apologies not needed. Birth and death. The cycles. Yin and Yang alternating.

 

I agree with the other parts of your post. There are flows of concepts within the TTC. Wu wei is one of them.

[ChiDragon]

This chapter is so difficult to translate but the theme can be expressed. LaoTze was tried to categorize the softness and the hardness. He was suggesting that softness is relating to life while hardness is relating to death. He was setting up the life and death concept by using the softness and stiffness of the human body to distinguish them. In the same token, he says when a tree was full grown and strong, it is very vulnerable to be blown or chopped down for the human needs. In the example with the soft grass, it only moves back and forth under the wind but survives.

 

In the case with a strong military force, it was the powerful image that was exposed to invite for extermination. E.g., the American navy in Hawaii was bombed in World War II. The strong military force of the Japanese was destroyed by the atomic bomb indirectly. Indeed, all these were making them vulnerable by exposing themselves. Hence, the last two lines of the chapter were indicating that softness has a high priority in survivability as opposed to hardness.

Edited October 6, 2011 by ChiDragon

[Marblehead]

This chapter is so difficult to translate but the theme can be expressed. LaoTze was tried to categorize the softness and the hardness. He was suggesting that softness is relating to life while hardness is relating to death. He was setting up the life and death concept by using the softness and stiffness of the human body to distinguish them. In the same token, he says when a tree was full grown and strong, it is very vulnerable to be blown or chopped down for the human needs. In the example with the soft grass, it only moves back and forth under the wind but survives.

 

In the case with a strong military force, it was the powerful image that was exposed to invite for extermination. E.g., the American navy in Hawaii was bombed in World War II. The strong military force of the Japanese was destroyed by the atomic bomb indirectly. Indeed, all these were making them vulnerable by exposing themselves. Hence, the last two lines of the chapter were indicating that softness has a high priority in survivability as opposed to hardness.

 

Basic agreement. And I have no problem with using "softness" instead of "flexibility".

 

Water can rightly be said to be soft. When water is a liquid it is very soft and flexible but in the frozen state it is hard and rigid.

[ChiDragon]

Basic agreement. And I have no problem with using "softness" instead of "flexibility".

 

Water can rightly be said to be soft. When water is a liquid it is very soft and flexible but in the frozen state it is hard and rigid.

 

Well, flexibility is the characteristic of softness. However, water is not analogous to grass because it doesn't have the same resiliency of the grass. IMO softness is complementary to hardness which flexibility doesn't per LoaTze's philosophy. No....???

Edited October 6, 2011 by ChiDragon

[XieJia]

Just to add, what you means are saying are right.

 

For me, I found it's easy to understand it through martial arts.

When the body freezes up, or manifested in anyway; it gets hit and will sustain damage or injuries.

 

However when it is soft or flexible, a good martial artist or the natural ones can nearly redirect all incoming force through their movements or back at the attacker.

 

My two cents this time .

[Marblehead]

Well, flexibility is the characteristic of softness. However, water is not analogous to grass because it doesn't have the same resiliency of the grass. IMO softness is complementary to hardness which flexibility doesn't per LoaTze's philosophy. No....???

 

Yes, the grasses at the lake shore vs the rigid tree are the examples best used. The rigid tree gets blown down while the soft grasses sway with the winds.

[Marblehead]

Just to add, what you means are saying are right.

 

For me, I found it's easy to understand it through martial arts.

When the body freezes up, or manifested in anyway; it gets hit and will sustain damage or injuries.

 

However when it is soft or flexible, a good martial artist or the natural ones can nearly redirect all incoming force through their movements or back at the attacker.

 

My two cents this time .

 

See? I knew you would find a use for the word "flexible" eventually. Hehehe.

[dawei]

This is an easy chapter to translate if one gets beyond word-for-word translation to get the meaning. And Water and Grass have the same properties of soft and flexible; an inflexible mind will not see it.

 

XieJia explains it as a comparison of grounding vs rooting; the former is anchored in the ground while the latter is a part of the ground.

 

When we are born, we are anchored or rooted? When we die, we are anchored or rooted?

 

I can sense the Great Carpenter (life) and Great Executioner (death) again...

[Marblehead]

I can sense the Great Carpenter (life) and Great Executioner (death) again...

 

I like that!

[Elliot]

I like to read one verse every 1 - 4 days, that is the time when I study and practice it's message, and today I'm up to the 76th verse.

 

The message I get from this verse is that:

Death = Hard and brittle.

Life = Soft and Supple.

we must learn the values of being humble, flexible and soft like palm trees tropical storm that bend but not break.

[Marblehead]

The message I get from this verse is that:

 

I think you've got it!