Weakness is better than strength, softness is better than strength, and the world knows everything.

So the sage said, "being defiled by the country is to be the master of the country;" The country is unlucky and the world is king. "

If it is that opposite.

Yi: replace, replace. Accept: bear. Dirt: humiliation.

Ominous: disaster, disaster.

There is nothing weaker than water in the world, but nothing can overcome water and overcome difficulties, so nothing can replace water.

Weakness is better than strength, and softness is better than strength. Everyone knows that, but no one can carry it out.

Therefore, the sage said, "Only by being humble and willing to endure what everyone hates can you become the monarch of the country;" Only by enduring the disaster of national subjugation can we become the king of the world. "

This is the ironic truth-the truth is always the opposite of the apparent truth.

In this chapter, Lao Tzu once again uses water, the substance closest to the Tao in his mind, as a metaphor to explain the truth that weakness overcomes strength and softness overcomes strength. Water nourishes everything, such as a road, which can bend and stretch, be round and square, be wide and narrow, enter and retreat, and change endlessly, so it contains energy that can attack and win.

Then I sighed again. Although the whole world knows this truth, no one is willing to implement it, and they often compete for temporary pleasure. Everyone knows some truths, and when exhorting others, they can often talk big and long, but once it is their turn to implement them, they always forget those truths.

Next, Lao Tzu said what qualities a qualified monarch in the world needs. Only those who don't pay attention to their own honor and disgrace, who can bear the humiliation and disaster of the world and bear the heavy burden for the people, can become the "king of the world."

The most difficult thing to understand in this paper is whether the word "as it is" means that truth is often contrary to what people believe, but is this different from the previous meaning of "everything in the world is known and omnipotent"? Before, I said that no one knew, but no one implemented it. Now he says that contrary to what people believe, isn't it smooth?

Or, as Lao Tzu said before, "whether there is mutual existence or not, there is no difficulty, there is long and short, there is high and low, there is sound and sound, there is front and back." Truth is often different from its superficial phenomenon, which looks very ordinary, but in fact it contains the virtue of Tao. Like water, it can be seen everywhere, but it is the material closest to Tao.