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柔能克刚

róu néng kè gāngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. the soft can subdue the hard
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-86020f53b7e99127. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

柔能克剛 柔能克刚 [rou2 neng2 ke4 gang1] /lit. the soft can subdue the hard/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 柔能克剛

  • 柔
    róu

    soft / flexible / supple / yielding / rho (Greek letter Ρρ)

  • 能
    néng

    can / to be able to / might possibly / ability / (physics) energy

    Néng

    surname Neng

  • 克
    kè

    to be able to / to subdue / to restrain / to overcome / gram / Tibetan unit of land area, about 6 ares / to overthrow

    Kè

    abbr. for 克羅地亞|克罗地亚[Kè luó dì yà], Croatia / (Tw) abbr. for 克羅埃西亞|克罗埃西亚[Kè luó āi xī yà], Croatia / Ke (c. 2000 BC), seventh of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yán dì] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shén nóng] Farmer God

  • 刚
    gāng

    (literary) hard / firm / strong / exactly / precisely / barely / only just / just / only a short while ago

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.