2. Abstraction 3. Without Action
16. Decay and Renewal 17. Rulers
24. Indulgence 25. Beneath Abstraction
36. Opposition 37. Tranquillity
40. Motion and Use 41. Following
52. Clarity 53. Difficult Paths
54. Cultivate Harmony 55. Soft Bones
56. Impartiality 57. Conquer with Inaction
57. Conquer with Inaction 58. No End
63. Difficulty 64a. Care at the Beginning
64b. Care at the End 65. Subtlety
66. Lead by Following 67. Unimportance
70. Individuality 71. Limitation
A newborn is soft and tender,
A crone, hard and stiff.
Plants and animals, in life, are supple and succulent;
In death, withered and dry.
So softness and tenderness are attributes of life,
And hardness and stiffness, attributes of death.
Just as a sapless tree will split and decay
So an inflexible force will meet defeat;
The hard and mighty lie beneath the ground
While the tender and weak dance on the breeze above.