The Soft Overcomes The Hard The

From Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching, a chapter that describes the Taoist principle of reversal: what is to be diminished must first be allowed to expand; what is to be overcome is first permitted to strengthen. The soft overcoming the hard is one of Taoism's most persistent images, developed at greater length in Chapter 78, which uses water wearing away rock as its central metaphor. These paradoxes of yielding and softness influenced later Chinese martial philosophy, including the foundational principles of tai chi.