Original Text
To contain it, one must first expand it; to weaken it, one must first let it grow strong; to abolish it, one must first elevate it; to take from it, one must first give to it. This is a subtle and profound truth. Softness overcomes hardness. Fish cannot leave the deep waters, and the sharp tools of the state must not be lightly shown to others.
Guide
Opposites can transform into each other; one should understand the principle that retreating can be a form of advancing and that gentleness can overcome strength.Analysis
This chapter primarily discusses the duality of things and the dialectical relationship of contradiction transformation, revealing the laws of movement and change in nature. At the same time, Laozi uses the dialectics of nature as a metaphor for social phenomena, aiming to draw people's attention and caution. This perspective runs through the entire "Tao Te Ching." Any thing, in its process of development, will reach a certain limit, at which point it will change and develop in the opposite direction. This chapter aims to use the principle of extremes meeting to teach people to be gentle and humble, returning to the origin of the Tao.
The Great Way is silent and actionless, formless and imageless, yet it exists within all tangible things. When all things in the world act according to natural laws, life leads to death and good leads to bad, so the laws established by our tangible world are the relative law of causality, where opposing forces transform into each other and give rise to each other's extinction, and no one can change this. But the Great Way is completely different. The Great Way itself has no hierarchy; therefore, as long as one aligns with the Great Way, all things will have no hierarchy. If one does not align with the Great Way, hierarchy will inevitably exist, and things will transform and develop toward the opposite of what they pursue.
"In order to contract, it must first expand; in order to weaken, it must first strengthen." In the first four sentences of this chapter, Laozi specifically analyzes the development of things, and these lines embody his dialectical thought that extremes meet. Within the unity of opposites in the four pairs of contraction and expansion, weakness and strength, abandonment and preservation, and taking and giving, Laozi prefers to reside in the side of weakness. After deep and broad observation and study of people and things, Laozi recognizes that weak things contain inward restraint, often possess resilience, have vigorous vitality, and leave more room for development. Conversely, things that appear strong and rigid, due to their outward display, often lose their potential for development and thus struggle to endure long. In the opposition between weakness and strength, Laozi asserts that the manifestation of weakness surpasses the appearance of strength.
We know that the Great Way is wordless, formless, and silent, yet it is everywhere. We can be aware of its control over us, but we cannot feel it, which reflects the ordinariness of the Way. It does not tempt us with sounds or sights, lure us with fame or profit, or threaten us with force; everything happens naturally, compelling us to follow its principles, embrace it, and find eternal peace and tranquility, never to be harmed—this is the greatness of the Way. The Way is great because of its ordinariness, and this is the essence of Laozi’s teaching: the true meaning of non-action that leaves nothing undone. If those who govern a state can grasp the foundation of the Way and emulate its practice of non-action that accomplishes everything, they need not resort to various means to win people’s hearts or exhaust their minds to control others. Thus, people, seeking a peaceful and stable life, will naturally turn to and submit to them.