Trusting the Truth
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天下柔弱莫過於水，而攻堅強者，莫知能勝，其無以易之。弱之勝強，柔之勝剛，天下莫不知，莫能行故聖人云：受國之垢，是謂社稷主；受國之不祥，是謂天下王。正言若反。
Nothing in the world is more soft and weak than water, yet for attacking the hard and strong, no one knows of anything that can overcome it; nothing can take its place. The weak overcomes the strong; the soft overcomes the hard. No one in the world does not know it, yet no one can put it into practice. So the sage says: ‘One who takes on the state’s dirt is called lord of the altars of soil and grain; one who takes on the state’s misfortune is called king of the world.’ True words seem like their opposite.
Water’s softness overpowering hardness, echoing chapter 8, closing on the paradox that accepting a state’s disgrace is what makes someone fit to rule it.
Water, first introduced in chapter 8 (上善若水, “the highest good is like water”), returns with a sharper point: the soft actually overcomes the hard. The closing paradox, that a ruler willing to take on the state’s dirt and misfortune is the one fit to hold it, is the pattern that 正言若反, “true words seem like their opposite”, names directly.
Silk A writes 邦 for “state” in the sage’s saying, where silk B and the received texts have 國.
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