Life and death
The Dao De Jing says the soft and weak are companions of life and the hard and stiff companions of death (chapter 76), that those who cling too hard to living move toward death (chapter 50), and that a people who do not fear death cannot be threatened with it (chapter 74).
Chapter 50 opens on the whole span of a life in four characters, 出生入死: “Coming out into life, going into death.” It counts three in ten who follow life, three in ten who follow death, and three in ten who live “but move toward the place of death”, “Because they cling too hard to living.” The one “who nurtures life well” meets no rhino, tiger or blade, “Because he has no place of death in him.”
Chapter 76 gives the clearest image. “People are soft and weak when alive, hard and stiff when dead”; grass and trees are “soft and tender when alive, dry and withered when dead.” So “the hard and stiff are companions of death; the soft and weak are companions of life.” Chapter 55 shows the same in the newborn, whose “bones are weak, his sinews soft, yet his grip is firm,” and warns that “Things with strength ultimately wither,” a line chapter 30 says first. Chapter 42 adds: “the violent do not die a natural death.”
Long life comes from not grasping at it. Heaven and earth last because “they do not foster themselves” (chapter 7); “To die and not perish is long life” (chapter 33); chapter 59 speaks of “deep roots and a firm base, the Way of long life and lasting sight”; chapter 44 asks “Fame or your life: which is dearer?” and says that “knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.” Chapter 75 puts it most directly: “Only those who do not live for living are wiser than those who prize life.”
Death also belongs to governing. “If the people do not fear death, why threaten them with death?” (chapter 74); to kill in the executioner's place “is like cutting wood in the master carpenter's place.” The people “make light of death because those above seek too much from life” (chapter 75). “Bravery in daring leads to death; bravery in not daring leads to life” (chapter 73). In the small state of chapter 80, the people “take death seriously” and “grow old and die without ever visiting each other.”
| Chapter | What it says |
|---|---|
| Chapter 7 天长地久 | Heaven and earth live long because they do not live for themselves. |
| Chapter 13 宠辱若惊 | Great trouble comes from having a body. |
| Chapter 16 致虚极守 | Following the constant and the Way, one is without danger to the end of one's life. |
| Chapter 30 以道佐人 | Things with strength wither, and what is not the Way soon ends. |
| Chapter 33 知人者智 | To die and not perish is long life. |
| Chapter 42 道生一 | The violent do not die a natural death. |
| Chapter 44 名与身孰 | Life is dearer than fame or goods, and knowing when to stop lets one last long. |
| Chapter 50 出生入死 | Those who cling too hard to living move toward death, while one who nurtures life well has no place of death in him. |
| Chapter 52 天下有始 | Holding to the mother, one is without danger all one's life; busy with affairs, one cannot be saved. |
| Chapter 55 含德之厚 | The newborn, weak and soft, is full of life, while forcing life is ill-omened and strength withers. |
| Chapter 59 治人事天 | Deep roots and a firm base are the Way of long life. |
| Chapter 67 天下皆谓 | Giving up compassion, frugality and being last for their opposites is death. |
| Chapter 73 勇于敢则 | Bravery in daring leads to death; bravery in not daring leads to life. |
| Chapter 74 民不畏死 | A people who do not fear death cannot be threatened with it, and whoever kills in the executioner's place cuts his own hand. |
| Chapter 75 民之饥以 | The people make light of death because those above seek too much from life. |
| Chapter 76 人之生也 | The soft and weak are companions of life, the hard and stiff companions of death. |
| Chapter 80 小国寡民 | The people of the small state take death seriously and grow old at home. |
Every line on the theme
Chapter 7
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天长地久。
The cosmos is infinite and timeless.
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天地所以能长且久者，
The reason heaven and earth can last so long
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以其不自生，
Is that they do not foster themselves.
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故能长生。
Thus they can live long.
Chapter 13
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吾所以有大患者，
The reason I have great trouble
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为吾有身，及吾无身，
Is that I have a body; if I had no body,
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吾有何患！
what trouble could I have!
Chapter 16
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没身不殆。
To the end of his life, he is without danger.
Chapter 30
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物壮则老，
Things with strength ultimately wither,
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是谓不道，不道早已。
this is not the Way, and what is not the Way soon ends.
Chapter 33
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不失其所者久，
Not losing your place is to last.
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死而不亡者寿。
To die and not perish is long life.
Chapter 42
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强梁者不得其死，
the violent do not die a natural death.
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吾将以为教父。
I will make this the father of my teaching.
Chapter 44
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名与身孰亲？
Fame or your life: which is dearer?
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身与货孰多？
Your life or your goods: which is worth more?
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得与亡孰病？
Gain or loss: which does more harm?
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是故甚爱必大费，
So great attachment is sure to cost much,
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多藏必厚亡，知足不辱，
and great hoarding is sure to bring heavy loss. Knowing what is enough, you are not disgraced;
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知止不殆，可以长久。
knowing when to stop, you are not in danger, and can last long.
Chapter 50
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出生入死。
Coming out into life, going into death.
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生之徒，十有三；
Those who follow life are three in ten;
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死之徒，十有三；
those who follow death are three in ten;
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人之生，
and people who live
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动之死地，
but move toward the place of death
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亦十有三。
are also three in ten.
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夫何故？
Why is this?
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以其生生之厚。
Because they cling too hard to living.
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盖闻善摄生者，陆行不遇兕虎，
I have heard that one who nurtures life well walks the land without meeting rhinos or tigers,
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入军不被甲兵；
and goes into battle without armor or weapons;
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兕无所投其角，虎无所措其爪，
the rhino finds nowhere to drive its horn, the tiger nowhere to set its claws,
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兵无所容其刃。
the weapon nowhere to lodge its blade.
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夫何故？
Why is this?
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以其无死地。
Because he has no place of death in him.
Chapter 52
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没身不殆。
and to the end of one's life there is no danger.
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塞其兑，
Close the openings,
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闭其门，终身不勤。
shut the doors, and all your life you will not be worn out.
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开其兑，
Open the openings,
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济其事，终身不救。
busy yourself with affairs, and all your life you cannot be saved.
Chapter 55
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含德之厚，比于赤子。
One who holds virtue in fullness is like a newborn child.
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蜂虿虺蛇不螫，猛兽不据，
Wasps, scorpions and snakes do not sting him, wild beasts do not seize him,
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攫鸟不搏。
birds of prey do not strike him.
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骨弱筋柔而握固。
His bones are weak, his sinews soft, yet his grip is firm.
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未知牝牡之合而朘作，
He knows nothing of the union of male and female, yet his member stirs:
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精之至也。
this is vital essence at its height.
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终日号而不嗄，和之至也。
He cries all day without growing hoarse: this is harmony at its height.
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知和曰常，知常曰明。
Knowing harmony is called the constant; knowing the constant is called brilliance.
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益生曰祥。
Forcing life is called ill-omened.
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心使气曰强。
The mind driving the breath is called forcing.
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物壮则老，
Things with strength ultimately wither,
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是谓不道，
this is not the Way,
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不道早已。
and what is not the Way soon ends.
Chapter 59
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有国之母，可以长久；
holding the mother of the state, one can last long.
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是谓深根固柢，长生久视之道。
This is called deep roots and a firm base, the Way of long life and lasting sight.
Chapter 67
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今舍慈且勇，舍俭且广，
Now, to give up compassion yet be brave, to give up frugality yet be generous,
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舍后且先，死矣！
to give up being last yet be first: this is death!
Chapter 73
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勇于敢则杀，
Bravery in daring leads to death;
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勇于不敢则活。
bravery in not daring leads to life.
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此两者，或利或害。
Of these two, one benefits and the other harms.
Chapter 74
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民不畏死，
If the people do not fear death,
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奈何以死惧之？
why threaten them with death?
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若使民常畏死，
If the people always feared death,
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而为奇者，
and those who did wrong
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吾得执而杀之，
could be seized and killed by me,
-
孰敢？
who would dare?
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常有司杀者杀，
There is always an executioner who kills.
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夫代司杀者杀，
To kill in the executioner's place
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是谓代大匠斫。
is like cutting wood in the master carpenter's place.
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夫代大匠斫者，
Those who cut in the master carpenter's place
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希有不伤其手矣。
rarely escape cutting their own hands.
Chapter 75
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民之轻死，
The people make light of death
-
以其上求生之厚，
because those above seek too much from life;
-
是以轻死。
that is why they make light of death.
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夫唯无以生为者，
Only those who do not live for living
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是贤于贵生。
are wiser than those who prize life.
Chapter 76
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人之生也柔弱，其死也坚强。
People are soft and weak when alive, hard and stiff when dead.
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万物草木之生也柔脆，
The myriad things, grass and trees, are soft and tender when alive,
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其死也枯槁。
dry and withered when dead.
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故坚强者死之徒，
So the hard and stiff are companions of death;
-
柔弱者生之徒。
the soft and weak are companions of life.
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是以兵强则不胜，
So an army that is rigid will not win;
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木强则兵。
a tree that is rigid will be cut down.
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强大处下，柔弱处上。
The hard and great take the lower place; the soft and weak take the higher place.
Chapter 80
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使民重死而不远徙。
let the people take death seriously and not travel far.
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民至老死，不相往来。
yet the people grow old and die without ever visiting each other.