What is Softness and Weakness in Taoism? 什么是柔弱
Paul PengWhat is Softness and Weakness in Taoism?
Laozi holds that softness and weakness are the manifestation of the Dao.
The Dao De Jing states:
"Reversal is the movement of the Dao;
weakness is the function of the Dao."
It emphasizes that "Softness and weakness overcome strength and hardness,"
and "The softest thing in the world runs through the hardest thing in the world."
From this, he derives a life philosophy that values softness and weakness:
"Man at birth is soft and weak;
at death he is hard and stiff.
at death they are withered and dry.
Thus the hard and stiff belong to the company of death;
the soft and weak belong to the company of life."
What is Softness and Weakness in Taoism?
From these observations, Laozi concludes:
"To hold fast to the soft is to be strong,"
and proposes a life-nourishing method:
"Can you concentrate your Qi to attain the utmost softness,
and be like a newborn baby?"
"Zhuan" means to concentrate.
To gather and refine Qi to the state of utmost softness,
pure and unspoiled as a newborn infant,
is to be in harmony with the Dao.
Taoism absorbs Laozi’s idea of valuing softness and weakness,
and develops it into a principle for nourishing life and conducting oneself in the world.
The Scripture of Western Ascension says:
"Under heaven nothing is softer than Qi;
nothing is softer and weaker than the Dao.
The reason the Dao is soft and weak is that it embraces heaven and earth,
and penetrates all things."
It identifies "softness and weakness" with "nature":
"Nature is the root of the Dao."
The Wonderful Truth Scripture states:
"The nature of water is to be soft, weak, and penetrating."
In human relations and conduct, Taoism esteems softness and weakness.
In the Twenty-Seven Precepts of Lord Lao,
the three highest practices are: practicing non-action, practicing softness and weakness, practicing abiding in the feminine and not taking the lead.
The Twelve Precepts of the Scripture of Converting the Barbarians says:
"Beware of being strong;
you must bend and yield.
The strong will first be broken;
the hard will surely be subdued."
These explain the importance of softness and weakness from both positive and negative aspects.
Influenced by Buddhist doctrines,
Cheng Xuanying, a Taoist philosopher of the Double Mystery school,
cites Buddhist theories of concentration (dhyana), wisdom (prajna), practice, and understanding
to interpret "To see the small is to be clear; to hold fast to the soft is to be strong":
"If you can see the small, your wisdom grows clearer;
if you can use the Dao with humility and softness,
your true virtue and practice grow stronger each day.
At the beginning of practicing the Dao,
there are concentration and wisdom, practice and understanding.
Seeing the small is the gate of wisdom and understanding;
using the soft is the method of concentration and practice.
Thus among the six paramitas,
there are concentration, practice, wisdom, and understanding.
The first five are practice; the last is understanding.
Understanding is wisdom; practice includes both concentration and wisdom.
Using emptiness to guide being, and being to support emptiness —
to reveal this function of support and guidance,
it is said: use the soft and see the small."
