Translation: The softest thing in the world (water) can penetrate the hardest things in the world (metal and stone).
Analysis: Heshang Gong: "水能贯坚入刚，无所不通" — "Water can penetrate the hard and enter the rigid; there is nothing it cannot pass through." Though water is supremely soft, it can bore through stone and penetrate metal — this is the most intuitive metaphor for "the soft overcomes the hard."
Similar views: Heshang Gong: "至柔者，水也。至坚者，金石也。水能贯坚入刚，无所不通" — "The softest is water. The hardest is metal and stone. Water can penetrate the hard and enter the rigid; there is nothing it cannot pass through." Chapter 78: "天下莫柔弱于水，而攻坚强者莫之能胜" — "Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water, yet nothing surpasses it in attacking what is hard and strong."
Translation: The softest thing in the world (the Tao/Qi) can command and master the hardest things in the world.
Analysis: Wang Bi's commentary: "气无所不入，水无所不出于经" — "Qi (气) enters everywhere; water issues from every channel." It is not only water — Qi (气) is also a supremely soft substance. The Tao (道)/Qi (气), though formless and yielding, can command and master all that is hard and strong. This interpretation extends "the supremely soft" from the concrete image of water to an essential attribute of the Tao.
Similar views: Wang Bi: "气无所不入，水无所不出于经" — "Qi enters everywhere; water issues from every channel."
Translation: The formless can enter where there is no gap — thus I know that non-action (无为) is beneficial.
Analysis: The logical progression is remarkably refined: the supremely soft gallops through the supremely hard (physical level) → the formless enters where there is no gap (abstraction) → the benefit of non-action (无为) (ethical/political conclusion). From natural phenomena, a principle of governance is derived — because formless forces can penetrate all things, non-action (无为) — neither forcing nor contriving — is the most effective method.
Similar views: Wang Bi: "虚无柔弱，无所不通，无有不可穷，至柔不可折，以此推之，故知无为之有益也" — "The empty and formless, the soft and yielding, penetrate everything; the formless cannot be exhausted, the supremely soft cannot be broken. Reasoning from this, one knows the benefit of non-action." Heshang Gong: "道无形质，故能出入无间，通神明济群生也" — "The Tao has no form or substance, and therefore can move in and out of what has no gap, communicating with the spirit-light and sustaining all living beings."
Translation: The empty and yielding can enter where there is no gap — thus I know that refraining from contrivance is beneficial.
Analysis: Wang Bi interprets "无有" as "虚无柔弱" — "the empty and yielding" — not merely the absence of physical form, but a mode of being. Non-action (无为) is not passive inaction; rather, it is a manner of acting that is "empty and yielding." Heshang Gong: "吾见道无为而万物自化成，是以知无为之有益于人也" — "I observe that the Tao acts through non-action yet the myriad things transform and complete themselves of their own accord; thus I know that non-action is beneficial to humankind."
Similar views: Heshang Gong: "吾见道无为而万物自化成，是以知无为之有益于人也" — "I observe that the Tao acts through non-action yet the myriad things transform and complete themselves; thus I know that non-action is beneficial to humankind."
Translation: The teaching without words, the benefit of non-action (无为) — few in the world can attain these.
Analysis: The concluding statement of the entire chapter is also a lament. "The teaching without words" and "the benefit of non-action" are the chapter's two grand conclusions — the most effective teaching is wordless instruction by personal example, and the most beneficial governance is the naturalness of non-action (无为). Yet regrettably "天下希及之" — "few in the world can attain these" — very few can truly comprehend and practice them. Heshang Gong: "天下，人主也。希能有及道无为之治身治国也" — "'The world' refers to the ruler. Few can attain the Tao's governance through non-action in cultivating the self and ordering the state." This identifies the subject of "few can attain" specifically as rulers, hinting at the practical difficulty of governance through non-action.
Similar views: Heshang Gong: "法道不言，师之以身" — "Emulating the Tao's wordlessness, one teaches by personal example." "天下，人主也。希能有及道无为之治身治国也" — "'The world' refers to the ruler. Few can attain the Tao's governance through non-action in cultivating the self and ordering the state." Chapter 2: "是以圣人处无为之事，行不言之教" — "Therefore the Sage (圣人) dwells in the practice of non-action and carries out the teaching without words."
This chapter contains 5 interpretation combinations.
[Core Divergences]
Chapter 43 is one of the most concise and powerful arguments for "the soft overcomes the hard" in the Tao Te Ching. In only three sentences, it completes a full philosophical argument: premise (the supremely soft gallops through the supremely hard) → abstraction (the formless enters where there is no gap) → conclusion (the benefit of non-action). "The teaching without words, the benefit of non-action" further applies natural law directly to the domains of education and governance. The closing phrase "few in the world can attain these" serves as both a lament and an exhortation — precisely because it is so difficult to practice, it is all the more precious.