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"At birth a person is soft (jou) and yielding (jo), At death hard (chien) and unyielding (ch'iang). All beings, grass and trees, when alive, are soft and bending, When dead they are dry and brittle. Therefore the hard and unyielding are companions of death, The soft and yielding are companions of life. Hence an unyielding army (ping) is destroyed (mieh). An unyielding tree breaks (che). The unyielding and great takes its place below, The soft and yielding takes its place above."