extraction.tao_teh_king.soft_overcomes_hard_non_action

extraction.tao_teh_king.soft_overcomes_hard_non_action

---
record_id: extraction.tao_teh_king.soft_overcomes_hard_non_action
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/tao-teh-king-legge.md
passage_locator:
  label: Tao Teh King, Ch. 43.1-2
  start: Ch. 43.1
  end: Ch. 43.2
  translation: James Legge, Project Gutenberg eBook
  notes: Source chapter marker reads "43. 1." in PART II.
canonical_text:
  quote: |
    The softest thing in the world dashes against and overcomes the hardest; that which has no (substantial) existence enters where there is no crevice.  I know hereby what advantage belongs to doing nothing (with a purpose).

    There are few in the world who attain to the teaching without words, and the advantage arising from non-action.
  language: English
  quote_policy: quoted
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
  text: The passage says the softest thing in the world overcomes the hardest.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:2
  text: The passage says what has no substantial existence enters where there is no
    crevice.
  category: action
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:3
  text: The speaker says this shows the advantage of doing nothing with a purpose.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: obs:4
  text: The passage says few people attain the teaching without words and the advantage
    arising from non-action.
  category: speech
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
figures:
- id: fig:1
  name_or_label: speaker
  description: First-person voice that draws an inference from soft-over-hard imagery.
  role_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
roles: []
symbols:
- id: sym:1
  label: softest thing
  literal_form: softest thing in the world
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:2
  label: hardest thing
  literal_form: hardest
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:3
  label: non-substantial existence
  literal_form: that which has no substantial existence
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:4
  label: no crevice
  literal_form: where there is no crevice
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
- id: sym:5
  label: non-action
  literal_form: non-action
  associated_figures: []
  taxonomy_refs: []
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
scenes:
- id: scene:1
  label: Tao Teh King, Ch. 43.1-2
  summary: The passage presents the softest as overcoming the hardest, the non-substantial
    as entering where there is no crevice, and this as evidence for the advantage
    of purposeful non-action and teaching without words.
  figure_refs:
  - fig:1
  symbol_refs:
  - sym:1
  - sym:2
  - sym:3
  - sym:4
  - sym:5
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
  label: soft overcomes hard
  taxonomy_refs:
  - duality
  basis: The passage directly contrasts the softest thing with the hardest and says
    the softest overcomes.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The taxonomy reference is approximate; the passage gives an aphoristic
    contrast rather than a paired-person narrative.
- id: motif:2
  label: non-action
  taxonomy_refs: []
  basis: The passage explicitly mentions doing nothing with a purpose and the advantage
    arising from non-action.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  confidence: medium
  cautions: Legge's parenthetical wording should be checked against other translations
    before broader comparative use.
- id: motif:3
  label: teaching without words
  taxonomy_refs:
  - wisdom
  basis: The passage says few attain the teaching without words.
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  confidence: medium
  cautions: The passage states a teaching mode, not a full teacher-disciple episode.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
  claim: The passage links soft-over-hard imagery with non-action as a shared pattern
    of efficacy without direct force.
  claim_level: same_function
  target: 'pattern atlas: non-action and soft-over-hard motifs'
  evidence_refs:
  - ev:1
  counter_evidence_refs: []
  confidence: low
  limitations: This is a motif-function comparison within the extraction corpus; it
    does not claim historical contact or a settled cross-cultural typology.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
  type: quote
  locator: Tao Teh King, Ch. 43.1-2
  quote_or_summary: The softest thing in the world overcomes the hardest; what has
    no substantial existence enters where there is no crevice; the passage connects
    this with "doing nothing" and "non-action."
  source_text_path: texts/public-domain/daoist/project-gutenberg/tao-teh-king-legge.md
  rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
confidence:
  extraction: high
  motif_candidates: medium
  comparison_claims: low
  notes: Literal observations are direct in Legge's translation; motif naming remains
    provisional.
reviewer_status:
  status: draft
  notes: Draft extraction; needs scholarly/human review before being treated as final.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Wave 2 extraction focused on soft overcoming hard and non-action.