Introduction

This verse was the most challenging one to translate so far, taking nearly five times as long as any other verse. With only three more verses to go, the odds are high that it will retain its title as the Supreme Pain in the Butt.

The reconstruction of the verse from the older manuscripts and received texts was unusually challenging. Furthermore, the verse employed many indirect references that were difficult to parse and used archaic terms with no satisfactory English counterparts.

Reading others’ translations, commentaries, footnotes, and exegesis all left me feeling … grossly dissatisfied. After dozens of iterations, I present this offering.

Translation

Under Heaven, nothing is
more yielding than water,
And in handling the unyielding,
There is nothing that can surpass it.

It is because of what water lacks,
that it is so transformational.

Water’s seam is hardness.
Softness’s seam is strength.
Everyone in the world knows it,
but no one enacts it.

It is thus that
The Wise have a saying:
Suffering national humiliation,
is called the Host of the Nation.
Bearing responsibility for the state’s misfortunes,
Is called the King of All Under Heaven

Aligned speech, although reversed.

Commentary

Under Heaven, nothing is
more yielding than water,
And in handling the unyielding,
There is nothing that can surpass it.

I’ve lost track of the number of times this motif has been presented. The repetition of this theme tells us, emphatically, to examine the natural function of water in nature as a source of inspiration for navigating life. This contemplation is perhaps the most crucial for learning to weave the Way in daily life.

It is because of what water lacks,
that it is so transformational.

In this instance, we are called to examine how water’s lack of solidity is the source of its transformational power. For us, as Weavers of the Way, this insight unfolds in many directions at once. Here are three:

The less fixed our position is (i.e., the less rigid we are in our sense of self), the more capacity we have to be a transformational force.
The more we feel ourselves breaking down, the better we can recognize what we are resisting.
Splashing about for a while may feel unproductive, but just as a drip drills a hole through granite and water seeps through bedrock, we can be sure to find a way through anything if we remain persistent and fluid.

Water’s seep is hardness.
Softness’s seep is strength.
Everyone in the world knows it,
but no one enacts it.

The term ‘seep’ is the best I could come up with for the Chinese term (朕, zhèn) used in this context. 朕 is a tricky and troublesome ideogram. Its original meaning refers to sealing the cracks between planks in a wooden boat, precisely where water might enter. The agency lies with the water to penetrate the seam, not in the crack to allow the water through. This detail is essential to the imagery here.

Water can only seep through things that seem hard or solid; otherwise, it flows. Likewise, softness can only seep into something hard and resistant. For me, this evokes the timeless image of the heart of stone melted by love’s tender embrace. It is a call to fight fire with water, a call to persist in peaceful presence. It reminds me that letting the world around me rant and rave will eventually reveal the entry point.

It also reminds me of the classic Chinese game of Weiqi (围棋), more popularly known in the US by its Japanese name “go.” Proficient players master the art of casting nets and gently probing their opponent’s structures, not building walls and forcing their way through. If the nets are too loose, then there isn’t enough structure to hold their territory. If the structures are too heavy, they cannot stem the opponent’s invasion. In short, mastery of go mirrors the dynamic tension Weaving the Way requires. If you’re interested in strategy games, I encourage you to spend some time with this beautiful board game as a way to embody many of the concepts we’ve explored in this text.

Returning to the text, it states that everyone knows water functions this way, yet “no one enacts it.” In other words, everyone recognizes the truth but lives as though they didn’t. This framing is critically important in understanding what comes next.

It is thus that
The Wise have a saying:
Suffering national humiliation,
is called the Host of the Nation.
Bearing responsibility for the state’s misfortunes,
Is called the King of All Under Heaven

In this case, the proverb employs the ritualistic language of the time to promote the social values of humility, patience, endurance, and virtue among leaders. Specifically, a good ruler is willing to be humiliated in serving the needs of the state and takes responsibility for the suffering of its people. Generally, most agree that a good leader is accountable to the situation they are leading and does not put their pride above the needs of the common good.

Aligned speech, although reversed.

This line is often translated as “true words seem upside-down” and is used as an affirmation of the seemingly paradoxical statements in the proverb. Remember that the text phrases its teaching as “no one can enact it.” This tells us that, however profound the well-known saying may be, it still misses the mark. Commonly held wisdom isn’t the teaching here.

Popular interpretations of Daoism often treat assertive action as inferior to passive allowing, a bias that elevates yin over yang, rather than seeing them as co-arising in dynamic unity. This leads to a sense of wúwéi (non-action) as mere passivity, which superficially aligns with the notion of water seeping but misses the deeper insight: water seeps its way through the substance despite the substance’s efforts to keep it out.

The original language of this proverb precisely conveys the illusion of passivity masquerading as skill. But passivity is not the defining characteristic of water in Weaving the Way. Water actively dwells in the low places (verse 8). It actively rules the hundred valleys by being beneath them (verse 33). It is actively receptive in the process of unification and construction (verse 28). It actively surrenders into direct experience and then responds with precisely the correct pressure at the proper time (verse 29).

To live in Integrity (德, dé) with the dynamic unfolding of life is to recognize that we are that unfolding. Yes, being is the basis from which we become. Yes, every becoming returns to being. But to insist that there is only being, and no becoming, is to live in darkness and refuse to produce light.