以柔克刚
yǐ róu kè gāng
to overcome hardness with softness; to beat strength with gentleness
Character by character
以yǐ
with
with
柔róu
soft
soft
克kè
overcome
overcome
刚gāng
hard
hard
Example
面对发火的顾客，她不争也不吵，耐心听完再慢慢解释，以柔克刚，很快就把事情解决了。
Faced with an angry customer she neither argued nor raised her voice but listened patiently and explained calmly, winning him over with gentleness and settling the matter quickly.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Rooted in the 《道德经》 (Laozi): 柔弱胜刚强, “the soft and weak overcome the hard and strong”, and the image of water wearing away stone. The motto of taiji and the “internal” martial arts, and now praise for anyone who wins by patience and tact rather than force, in negotiation, diplomacy, management or bringing up children.
Learn this in Lesson 244 · HSK 9+: 少林寺 (The Shaolin Temple)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
Open the lesson →