| |
Original |
Legge's
Translation |
Susuki's
Translation |
Goddard's
Translation |
| 1 |
將欲歙之，必固張之﹔將欲弱之，必固強之﹔將欲廢之，必固興之﹔ |
When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a
(previous) expiration; when he is going to weaken another,
he will
first strengthen him; when he is going to overthrow
another, he will
first have raised him up; when he is going to despoil
another, he will
first have made gifts to him:--this is called 'Hiding
the light (of
his procedure).'
|
That which is about to contract has surely been expanded. That which is about
to weaken has surely been strengthened. That which
is about to fall has surely been raised. That which
is about to be despoiled has surely been endowed. |
That which has a tendency to contract must first have been extended; that which
has a tendency to weaken itself must first have been
strong; that which shows a tendency to destroy itself
must first have been raised up; that which shows a
tendency to scatter must first have been gathered. |
| 2 |
將欲
取之，必固與之。是謂微明。柔勝剛，弱勝強。 |
The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong. |
This is an explanation of the secret that the tender and the weak conquer the
hard and the strong.
|
This is the explanation of a seeming contradiction: the tender and yielding conquer
the rigid and strong (i.e., spirit is stronger than
matter, persuasion than force). |
| 3 |
魚不可脫于淵，國之利器
，不可以示人。 |
Fishes should not
be taken from the deep; instruments for the
profit of a state should not be shown to the people.
|
As the fish should not escape from the deep, so with the country's sharp tools
the people should not become acquainted. |
The fish would be foolish to seek escape from its natural environment. There
is no gain to a nation to compel by a show of force. |
