When the Way is lost there is virtue. When virtue is lost there is benevolence. When benevolence is lost there is righteousness. When righteousness is lost there are rituals.
Rituals are the end of fidelity and honesty, and the beginning of confusion.
When people are unsettled, loyal ministers arise.
Letting the mind control the vital breath is called force.
The valley spirit never dies. It is called the mystical female.
Can you open and close the gate of Heaven and act like a woman?
A great country is like the lower outlet of a river. It is the world’s meeting ground, the world’s female.
The female always surpasses the male with stillness. In her stillness she is yielding.
Can you gather your vital breath and yet be tender like a newborn baby?
The one who is filled by virtue is like a newborn baby.
When family ties are disturbed, devoted children arise.
Abandon benevolence, discard duty, and people will return to the family ties.
Yielding, like ice about to melt.
The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong.
The softest in the world surpasses the hardest in the world.
Holding on to the weak is called strength.
The rigid tree will be felled.
The rigid and big belong below. The soft and weak belong above.
The weak overcomes the strong. The soft overcomes the hard. Everybody in the world knows this, still nobody makes use of it.
In the world there are four greats, and the king is one of them.