Chapter 38 — On virtue論德

德者，得也。常得而無喪，利而無害，故以德為名焉。何以得德？由乎道也。何以盡德？以無為用。以無為用則莫不載也，故物無焉，則無物不經，有焉，則不足以免其生。是以天地雖廣，以無為心。聖王雖大，以虛為主。故曰，以復而視，則天地之心見。至日而思之，則先王之至覩也。故滅其私而無其身，則四海莫不瞻，遠近莫不至。殊其己而有其心，則一體不能自全，肌骨不能相容，是以上德之人，唯道是用。不德其德，無執無用，故能有德而無不為，不求而得，不為而成，故雖有德而無德名也。下德求而得之，為而成之，則立善以治物，故德名有焉。求而得之必有失焉，為而成之必有敗焉，善名生則有不善應焉，故下德為之而有以為也。無以為者，無所徧為也。凡不能無為而為之者，皆下德也。仁義禮節是也，將明德之上下，輒舉下德以對上德，至於無以為，極下德下之量，上仁是也，足及於無以為而猶為之焉。為之而無以為，故有為，為之患矣。本在無為，母在無名，棄本捨母而適其子，功雖大焉，必有不濟。名雖美焉，偽亦必生。不能不為而成，不興而治，則乃為之，故有宏普博施仁愛之者，而愛之無所偏私，故上仁為之而無以為也。愛不能兼，則有抑抗正真而義理之者，忿枉祐直，助彼攻此物事而有以心為矣，故上義為之而有以為也。直不能篤，則有游飾修文，禮敬之者，尚好修敬，校責往來，則不對之閒，忿怒生焉。故上禮為之而莫之應，則攘臂而扔之。夫大之極也，其唯道乎，自此已往，豈足尊哉。故雖盛業大富而有萬物，猶各得其德，雖貴以無為用，不能捨無以為體也。不能捨無以為體，則失其為大矣。所謂失道而後德也。以無為用，德其母，故能己不勞焉而物無不理。下此已往，則失用之母，不能無為而貴博施，不能博施而貴正直，不能正直而貴飾敬，所謂失德而後仁，失仁而後義，失義而後禮也。夫禮也，所始首於忠信不篤，通簡不陽，責備於表，機微爭制，夫仁義發於內，為之猶偽，況務外飾而可久乎。故夫禮者，忠信之薄而亂之首也。前識者，前人而識也，即下德之倫也。竭其聰明以為前識，役其智力以營庶事，雖德其情，姦巧彌密，雖豐其譽，愈喪篤實。勞而事昬，務而治薉，雖竭聖智，而民愈害。舍己任物，則無為而泰。守夫素樸，則不順典制，聽彼所獲，棄此所守，識道之華，而愚之首，故茍得其為功之母，則萬物作焉而不辭也。萬事存焉而不勞也，用不以形，御不以名，故仁義可顯，禮敬可彰也。夫載之以大道，鎮之以無名，則物無所尚，志無所營，各任其貞，事用其誠，則仁德厚焉，行義正焉，禮敬清焉，棄其所載，舍其所生，用其成形，役其聰明，仁則誠焉，義其競焉，禮其爭焉，故仁德之厚，非用仁之所能也，行義之正，非用義之所成也。禮敬之清，非用禮之所濟也。載之以道，統之以母，故顯之而無所尚，彰之而無所競。用夫無名，故名以篤焉。用夫無形，故形以成焉。守母以存其子，崇本以舉其末，則形名俱有，而邪不生。大美配天而華不作，故母不可遠，本不可失。仁義，母之所生，非可以為母。形器，匠之所成，非可以為匠也。捨其母而用其子，棄其本而適其末，名則有所分，形則有所止，雖極其大，必有不周，雖盛其美，必有憂患，功在為之，豈足處也。

Virtue (德) is getting. Because one always gets and never loses, and it profits and never harms, it was named virtue. By what does one get virtue? Through the Dao. By what does one fulfill virtue? By taking nothing as its use. When nothing is taken as use, there is nothing it cannot carry. Hence where things have nothing, there is nothing they cannot pass through; and where they have something, it is not enough to get free of their own life. So although heaven and earth are vast, they take nothing as their mind; and although the sagely ruler is great, he takes emptiness as his master. Hence it is said that looking by way of return, the mind of heaven and earth is seen, and reflecting when the winter solstice comes, the utmost of the ancient rulers is seen. Hence if one does away with one's private self and does away with one's own person, there is none in all the world who does not look up, and none far or near who does not come. But if one holds one's own person to be set apart and keeps a mind of one's own, then not even a single body can be whole of itself, and flesh and bone cannot hold each other. So the man of high virtue uses the Dao alone. He does not call his virtue virtue, and neither grasps it nor employs it; hence, having virtue, there is nothing he does not do, and without seeking he gets, and without doing he completes. Hence, though he has virtue, there is no name of virtue. Low virtue gets by seeking and completes by doing; it sets up goodness in order to govern things, and so the name of virtue comes to be. What is got by seeking is sure to be lost, what is completed by doing is sure to go wrong, and once the name of goodness arises, what is not good answers to it. Hence low virtue acts, and it has a reason for acting. To have no reason for acting means that there is nothing one does in any one respect. Now whatever is done because one cannot refrain from doing is all low virtue, and benevolence and righteousness and ritual are these. To make clear the high and low of virtue, low virtue was at once raised up and set opposite high virtue; and what reaches having no reason for acting and so exhausts the lower vessels of low virtue is high benevolence. Though it is ample enough to reach having no reason for acting, it still ends by acting. It acts and yet has no reason for acting, so there is doing, and doing becomes a trouble. The root lies in non-doing and the mother lies in namelessness; and if one discards the root and leaves the mother aside and goes to her children, then however great the merit, there is sure to be something it fails to complete, and however fine the name, falsehood is sure to arise. When one cannot complete without doing nor govern without stirring things up, then one comes to act. Hence there is one who bestows broadly and greatly and loves with benevolence, yet does nothing partial or private in his loving. Hence high benevolence acts, and it has no reason for acting. When love does not reach everywhere, there is one who presses down and opposes, who makes things upright and true and governs by righteousness: he is angry at the crooked and aids the straight, helps that one and strikes this one, and so toward things and affairs there is something he does with a mind of his own. Hence high righteousness acts, and it has a reason for acting. When straightness is not thick, there is one who adorns the outside and polishes writing and reveres by ritual: he is fond of grooming and revering, and he reckons up comings and goings and reproaches them, so that anger arises between those who never meet face to face. Hence high ritual acts, and when no one answers, it bares its arm and drags them along. Now the utmost of greatness is the Dao alone; how could what goes on beyond it be worth exalting? Hence, though one's undertakings flourish and are greatly ample, so that one holds the ten thousand things and each gets its own virtue, and though one honors taking nothing as use, one cannot cast nothing aside and make a body of it. Since one cannot cast nothing aside and make a body of it, to do so is to lose what makes one great. This is what is meant by saying that when the Dao is lost, virtue comes next. Because one takes nothing as use and takes its mother as one's virtue, one does not labor oneself, and yet there is nothing among things that is not governed. Below this the mother of use is lost: unable to refrain from doing, one honors broad bestowing; unable to bestow broadly, one honors being upright and straight; unable to be upright and straight, one honors adornment and reverence. This is what is meant by saying that when virtue is lost, benevolence comes next, when benevolence is lost, righteousness comes next, and when righteousness is lost, ritual comes next. Now ritual arises where loyalty and trust are not thick and where openness and simplicity are not clear: it reproaches men for what they must have in outward appearance, and it contends and presses down over the faintest signs. Now even benevolence and righteousness come from within, and yet when one sets about doing them they turn to falsehood; how much more, then, can one labor at outward adornment and have it last? Hence ritual is loyalty and trust worn thin, and the head of disorder. To know beforehand is to know ahead of others, and so belongs to the company of low virtue. Exhausting one's keenness to know beforehand and working one's wisdom and strength to manage every affair, then though one grasps the real state of things, crafty skill grows the denser; and though praise is ample, thickness and solidity are the more lost. One labors, yet affairs grow dark; one strives, yet governing grows coarse; and though one exhausts sagely wisdom, the people are the more harmed. Set the self aside and leave things to themselves, and without doing there is great peace; keep to that plain white ground and the uncarved log, and one does not follow fixed rules. To hear what the other side gains and cast off what this side keeps is to know the flower of the Dao, and it is the head of folly. Hence if one truly gains the mother that completes one's merit, the ten thousand things arise and are not turned away, and though there are affairs of every kind, one does not labor. Because one does not use form in using, nor names in governing, benevolence and righteousness can show themselves and ritual and reverence can grow clear. Now carry things by the great Dao and press them down by namelessness, and things will have nothing they exalt and the will nothing it schemes for; each will be left to its own straightness, and each affair will use its own sincerity. Then benevolent virtue grows thick, righteous conduct grows upright, and ritual and reverence grow clear. But discard what carries them and leave aside what gives them birth, and use completed forms and work one's keenness, and then benevolence is adorned, righteousness is contested, and ritual is fought over. Hence the thickness of benevolent virtue is not something that can be brought about by using benevolence, the uprightness of righteous conduct is not something completed by using righteousness, and the clearness of ritual and reverence is not something that can be crossed over to by using ritual. One carries them by the Dao and leads them by the mother; hence though they are shown, there is nothing exalted, and though they are made clear, there is nothing contested. Because one uses that namelessness, names grow thick; because one uses that formlessness, forms are completed. Keep to the mother and so preserve her children, exalt the root and so raise up its branches, and then form and name are both present, yet nothing crooked arises. Great beauty matches heaven and yet puts forth no flower: the mother must not be kept at a distance, and the root must not be lost. Benevolence and righteousness are what the mother gives birth to, not what can be made the mother; form and vessel are what the craftsman completes, not what can be made the craftsman. Discard the mother and use her children, discard the root and go to its branches, and then names have their divisions and forms have their limits; so though one exhausts their greatness, there is sure to be something they do not reach, and though their beauty flourishes, there is sure to be trouble. The merit lies in doing — how could it be worth dwelling in?

上德，謂太古無名號之君，德大無上，故言上德也。不德者，言其不以德教民，因循自然，養人性命，其德不見，故言不德也。

High virtue (上德) means the rulers of the far-off past who had no name or title. Their virtue was so great that nothing stood above it, and so it is called high virtue. That they “do not call it virtue” says that they did not teach the people by virtue, but followed what is so of itself and nourished the lives of people, so that their virtue did not show forth. Therefore it was said that they do not call it virtue.

言其德合於天地，和氣流行，民德以全也。

This says that their virtue matched heaven and earth, so that the harmonious breath flowed and moved through all, and the virtue of the people became whole.

下德，謂號謚之君，德不及上德，故言下德也。不失德者，其德可見，其功可稱也。

Low virtue (下德) means the rulers who had names and posthumous titles. Their virtue did not reach high virtue, and so it is called low virtue. That they “do not lose virtue” is that their virtue was there to be seen and their merit there to be named.

以有名號及其身故。

Because a name and a title attached to their own person.

謂法道安靜，無所施為也。

This says that he models himself on the Dao and is at ease and still, so that there is nothing he sets out and does.

言無以名號為也。

This says that there is nothing he makes into a name or a title.

言為教令，施政事也。

This says that he makes teachings and ordinances and carries on the business of government.

言以為己取名號也。

This says that by it he seeks to gain a name and a title for himself.

上仁謂行仁之君，其仁無上，故言上仁。為之者，為人恩也。

High humaneness (上仁) means the ruler who practices humaneness. His humaneness has nothing above it, and so it is called high humaneness. That he “does it” is that he bestows kindness on others.

功成事立，無以執為。

Though merit is achieved and the work is established, there is nothing he holds on to and puts forward.

為義以斷割也。

He practices righteousness, and so he cuts and divides.

動作以為己，殺人以成威，賊下以自奉也。

He acts and makes it his own, kills people to establish his authority, and harms those below in order to serve himself.

謂上禮之君，其禮無上，故言上禮。為之者，言為禮制度，序威儀也。

This means the ruler of high ritual (上禮). His ritual has nothing above it, and so it is called high ritual. That he “does it” says that he makes the institutions of ritual and sets up an order of dignity and bearing.

言禮華盛實衰，飭偽煩多，動則離道，不可應也。

This says that with ritual the outside flourishes while the inside decays, and ornament and falsehood grow troublesome and many; so to act by it is to depart from the Dao, and therefore none can answer to it.

言禮煩多不可應，上下忿爭，故攘臂相仍引。

This says that ritual grows so troublesome and many that none can answer to it, and those above and those below grow angry and quarrel; therefore they roll up their sleeves and drag one another about.

言道衰而德化生也。

This says that the Dao decayed, and so the work of transforming by virtue came to be.

言德衰而仁愛見也。

This says that virtue decayed, and so humaneness and love showed forth.

言仁衰而分義明也。

This says that humaneness decayed, and so the righteousness that divides and discriminates became clear.

言義衰則施禮聘，行至帛也。

This says that as righteousness decayed, the ceremony of receiving others by ritual was set out, and it went as far as the sending of silk.

言禮廢本治末，忠信日以衰薄。

This says that ritual casts off the root and governs the branch tips, so that loyalty and trust decay and grow thin day by day.

禮者賤質而貴文，故正直日以少，邪亂日以生。

Ritual holds the substance cheap and the ornament dear; therefore what is upright and straight grows fewer day by day, and what is crooked and disorderly arises day by day.

不知而言知為前識，此人失道之實，得道之華。

To say one knows while not knowing is to know beforehand. Such a person loses the fruit of the Dao and gains only its flower.

言前識之人，愚闇之倡始也。

This says that the one who knows beforehand is the one who first calls up foolishness and darkness.

大丈夫謂得道之君也。處其厚者，謂處身於敦樸。

The great man means the ruler who has gained the Dao. That he “dwells in what is thick” says that he places his person in what is generous and plain.

不處身違道，為世煩亂也。

He does not place his person in what goes against the Dao and so make the world troublesome and disordered.

處忠信也。

He dwells in loyalty and trust.

不尚華言也。

He does not esteem flowery words.

去彼華薄，取此厚實。

He casts off that which is flowery and thin, and takes this which is thick and solid.