If one wishes to contract something, one must first expand it firmly. Opening and expanding it first means wanting to indulge in extreme luxury and decadence. If one wishes to weaken something, one must first strengthen it firmly. Strengthening and making it powerful first is meant to cause it to encounter misfortune and calamity. If one wishes to abolish something, one must first firmly promote it. Promoting it first is meant to make it arrogant and perilous. If one wishes to take something away, one must first give it firmly. Giving it first is meant to indulge its greed to the extreme. This is called subtle clarity. These four matters have a subtle principle, yet their effects are clear. The soft and weak overcome the hard and strong; softness and weakness endure for a long time, while hardness and strength perish first. A fish cannot escape from the depths of water; if a fish escapes from the depths, it means abandoning rigidity for softness and can no longer be controlled. The sharp instruments of a state must not be shown to others. "Sharp instruments" refer to the methods of authority. The power to govern a state must not be revealed to the officials in charge. The principles of self-cultivation must not be shown to those who are unworthy.