Human (body) lives being soft, it dies being hard. Plants live being s

戒強 · Jiè Qiáng

Classical Chinese Text

人之生也柔弱，其死也坚强。草木之生也柔脆，其死也枯槁。
故坚强者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。是以兵强则灭，木强则折。强大处下，柔弱处上。

Translation & Meaning

Human (body) lives being soft, it dies being hard. Plants live being soft and succulent, they die being hard and dry.

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 生 (shēng): give birth to / arise
  • 也 (yě): [modal particle of assertion]
  • 柔 (róu): classical character (róu)
  • 弱 (ruò): weaken / soften / yield
  • 其 (qí): its / their / his / her
  • 死 (sǐ): classical character (sǐ)
  • 坚 (jiān): classical character (jiān)
  • 强 (qiáng): strengthen / firm / robust
  • 草 (cǎo): classical character (cǎo)
  • 木 (mù): classical character (mù)
  • 脆 (cuì): classical character (cuì)
  • 枯 (kū): classical character (kū)
  • 槁 (gǎo): classical character (gǎo)
  • 故 (gù): therefore / thus / consequence
  • 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
  • 徒 (tú): classical character (tú)
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 以 (yǐ): in order to / by means of
  • 兵 (bīng): classical character (bīng)
  • 则 (zé): classical character (zé)
  • 灭 (miè): classical character (miè)
  • 折 (zhé): classical character (zhé)
  • 大 (dà): classical character (dà)
  • 处 (chù): stays / dwells / position
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 上 (shàng): elevate / utmost / high