There is nothing under heaven softer than water, yet none can penetrat
任信 · Rèn Xìn
Classical Chinese Text
天下莫柔弱于水，而攻坚强者莫之能胜，以其无以易之。弱之胜强，柔之胜刚，天下莫不知，莫能行。是以圣人云："受国之垢，是谓社稷主；受国不祥，是为天下王。"正言若反。
Translation & Meaning
There is nothing under heaven softer than water, yet none can penetrate the hard like it can, it is irreplaceable in this sense. The soft wins over the hard, the resilient wins over the rigid, no one doesn't know this in all that is under heaven, yet few can act upon it. This is why a sage says: 'Those who can carry the shame of a country, are the masters of the country; those who can bear the misfortune of the country, are the rulers of all that is under heaven.' It sounds counterintuitive but is the truth.
Linguistic & Character Analysis
- 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
- 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
- 莫 (mò): classical character (mò)
- 柔 (róu): classical character (róu)
- 弱 (ruò): weaken / soften / yield
- 于 (yú): to / at / in
- 水 (shuǐ): water / fluid adaptability
- 而 (ér): yet / and / but
- 攻 (gōng): classical character (gōng)
- 坚 (jiān): classical character (jiān)
- 强 (qiáng): strengthen / firm / robust
- 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
- 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
- 能 (néng): fruitful / capacity / ability
- 胜 (shèng): classical character (shèng)
- 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
- 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
- 无 (wú): formless void / non-being / without
- 易 (yì): easy / simple / change
- 刚 (gāng): classical character (gāng)
- 不 (bù): not / un- / without
- 知 (zhī): know / distinguish / recognize
- 行 (xíng): practice / teach / walk
- 是 (shì): this / therefore
- 圣 (shèng): sage / enlightened one
- 人 (rén): person / human
- 云 (yún): classical character (yún)
- 受 (shòu): classical character (shòu)
- 国 (guó): classical character (guó)
- 垢 (gòu): classical character (gòu)
- 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
- 社 (shè): classical character (shè)
- 稷 (jì): classical character (jì)
- 主 (zhǔ): classical character (zhǔ)
- 祥 (xiáng): classical character (xiáng)
- 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
- 王 (wáng): classical character (wáng)
- 正 (zhèng): classical character (zhèng)
- 言 (yán): words / speech
- 若 (ruò): classical character (ruò)
- 反 (fǎn): classical character (fǎn)