English
fr
ar
bg
cs
da
de
el
es
fi
hu
id
it
he
ja
ko
nl
pl
pt
ro
ru
sk
sv
th
tr
uk
Texte chinois
人生之柔弱，其死坚强。
万物草木生之柔脆，其死枯槁。
故坚强者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。
是以兵强则不胜，木强则共。
故坚强处下，柔弱处上。
Translation
When man is born, he is supple and weak; when he dies, he is stiff and strong.
When trees and plants are born, they are supple and tender; when they die, they are withered and dry.
Stiffness and strength are the companions of death; suppleness and weakness are the companions of life.
Therefore, when an army is strong, it does not win.
When a tree is strong, it is cut down.
What is strong and big occupies the lower position; what is supple and weak occupies the upper position.
Notes
B: When man is born, his blood circulates throughout his body, and the harmony of vital spirits is at its full. That is why his nerves are supple and his flesh is soft. When he dies, his blood dries up (literally "dries out"), his veins close up, and the harmony of vital spirits leaves his body. That is why his limbs are stiff and strong.
When a tree is born, its vitality is complete, its sap is abundant. That is why it is supple and tender. But when it withers, its vitality dissipates and its sap dries up.
Several commentaries allow me to render the word 徒 (commonly "pedestrian, disciple") as "companion". E explains it by 类 "kind, species". According to him, it would be translated as: "are a kind of death... are a kind of life". (Cf. supra, chap. I., note 002, where 严君平 explains it by "cause", a meaning that could also be accepted in this passage.)
李斯 : This whole chapter has a figurative meaning. Laozi wants to say that he who approaches the Tao through his suppleness and weakness is assured of living, and that he who moves away from the Tao, seeking strength and power, struggling against obstacles instead of yielding to them, will infallibly perish.
A: A strong army attempts battle lightly; it likes to kill men, to spread disasters that attract many enemies. Then all those who were weak join together against it, and become powerful through their union. That is why the strong does not win.
刘骏 explains the words 兵强 by "he who is powerful through arms". The following words, 木强 "the tree is strong", are exactly parallel and show that the word 兵 , "arms, army", should be translated in the nominative (quando exercitus fortis est), not in the instrumental case (quando quis exercitu fortis est).
The word 共 (commonly "simul") has greatly troubled commentators. 焦竑 advises taking it as 合共 in the sense of "surround". 焦竑 : The tree is surrounded to be felled, it is felled. This is also the meaning of B, C, and 刘骏 .
B: Living beings that are hard and strong lose their vital harmony and die. It is just that they occupy the lower rank. Those who are supple and weak possess the fullness of harmony and they live. That is why they occupy the first rank. From this we see that stiffness and strength are the origin, the cause of our death; and that suppleness and weakness are the most important thing for maintaining our life.
Commentator D gives another meaning: by what is hard and strong, he understands here the lower part of the tree trunk; by what is supple and weak, he understands the thin branches that rise to its top.
