De

De is usually translated “virtue”, in the old sense of a power or potency, as in “the virtue of a herb”. In early Chinese thought it is the charismatic power of a good ruler, who wins people over without force. The title Daodejing means “the classic of the Way and its power”.

In the Daodejing, de is the Dao as it is present and active in particular things and people. Each thing has its de, its own nature and capacity, by which it is what it is. The sage’s de is not acquired by striving to be virtuous; the text says that the highest virtue does not think of itself as virtue, and so has virtue, while the lowest virtue never lets go of being virtuous, and so has none.

De is thus the fruit of non-forcing action and naturalness, an influence that works quietly, like water, and the opposite of a moral code imposed from outside. Confucians, by contrast, sought de through ritual, learning and the cultivation of humaneness.