Concept in Chinese philosophy
' (; ), also written as ', is a key concept in Chinese philosophy, usually translated "inherent character; inner power; integrity" in Taoism, "moral character; virtue; morality" in Confucianism and other contexts, and "quality; virtue" () or "merit; virtuous deeds" () in Chinese Buddhism.
The word.
Chinese is an ancient word with complexities across several subfields of linguistics: namely in its semantics, orthography, and etymology.
Meanings.
The "Hanyu Da Zidian", provides twenty meanings for , translatable as
This dictionary provides early usage examples, and all of these meanings occur in Han or pre-Han Chinese classic texts, except for number 17 ("de" abbreviating ).
Translating into English is problematic and controversial. Arthur Waley believed that was better translated "power" than "virtue", and explained with a "bank of fortune" metaphor.
It is usually translated 'virtue', and this often seems to work quite well; though where the word occurs in early, pre-moralistic texts such a translation is in reality quite false. But if we study the usage of the word carefully we find that can be bad as well as good. What is a 'bad virtue'? Clearly 'virtue' is not a satisfactory equivalent. Indeed on examining the history of the word we find that it means something much more like the Indian , save that the fruits of are generally manifested here and now; whereas is bound up with a theory of transmigration, and its effects are usually not seen in this life, but in a subsequent incarnation. is anything that happens to one or that one does of a kind indicating that, as a consequence, one is going to meet with good or bad luck. It means, so to speak, the stock of credit (or the deficit) that at any given moment a man has at the bank of fortune. Such a stock is of course built up partly by the correct carrying out of ritual; but primarily by securing favourable omens; for unless the omens are favourable, no rite can be carried out at all.
Based on the cognate relation between and "to plant", Waley further noted the early Chinese regarded planting seeds as a , hence it "means a latent power, a 'virtue' inherent in something."
The linguist Peter A. Boodberg investigated the semantics and etymology of , which he called "perhaps the most significant word, next to , in ancient Chinese macro- and microcosmology."
The standard translation for it is "virtue," both in the sense of inherent quality and in that of moral excellence, but with the validity of the traditional rendering somewhat shaken by Arthur Waley's insistence on interpreting it as "power." Indeed, it is believed by many scholars that the term originated in the mytho-magical period of Chinese speculation when was conceived as a kind of -like potency inherent in substances, things, and human beings, a potency which, on the one hand, made them true to their essence, and on the other, made possible their influencing of other entities. It appears often as if it had been imagined as a kind of electric charge permeating the thing in question, waxing or waning in accordance with some mysterious law, and capable of being transmitted, in the case of living beings, from one generation to another. Contrary-minded students of ancient Chinese philosophy dispute this interpretation as rather narrow and possibly anachronistic, and point to the fact that had early acquired, at least in Confucian literature, ethical connotations close to our "virtue," that is, as moral, and only rarely amoral or immoral, efficacy. They find, therefore, no quarrel with rendering , almost invariably, as "virtue." Philologists are, however, troubled by the absence in the Chinese term of any connotations reminiscent of the Latin etymon , such as manliness and virility. They remind us that is free from any contamination with sexual associations and differs in that from its great counterpart, , the Way, which, in one or two expressions, such as , "the way of men and women," is suggestive of sexual activity. Other recommended translation, such as "energy" and "essential quality," seem also inadequate from the etymological point of view.
Victor Mair explains that the difficulty of accurately translating ,
...is evident from the astonishing sweep of thoughtful renderings of its meaning: power, action, life, inner potency, indarrectitude (inner uprightness), charisma, (impersonal supernatural force inherent in gods and sacred objects), sinderesis (conscience as the directive force of one's actions), and virtue, to name only a few of the brave attempts to convey the meaning of in English. Of these, the last is by far the most frequently encountered. Unfortunately, it is also probably the least appropriate of all to serve as an accurate translation of in the "Tao Te Ching".
 concludes that Daoist is best translated "integrity", which "means no more than the wholeness or completeness of a given entity," and like , "it represents the selfhood of every being in the universe."
Characters.
 "power; virtue" is written with the Chinese character 德 in both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. This character combines the "footstep; go" radical (recurring graphic elements that suggest meaning) with "straight; vertical" and "heart; mind". has rare variant characters of 徳 (without the horizontal 一 line) and 悳 or 惪 (without the "footstep" radical).
The earliest written forms of are oracle script from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and bronzeware script and seal script from the Zhou dynasty ( BCE). Oracle characters wrote with "footstep; go" and "straight", later bronze characters added the "heart; mind" element. The oracle script for "straight; vertical" ideographically depicted "vertical line (in a character)" above "eye", the bronze script elaborated the line into "ten", and the seal script separated the eye and heart with a horizontal line. Poetically this could read as a choice of "from the womb or to the tomb". As the eye is associated with worldly desires and wants as opposed to the heart, being the home of and needs.
Etymologies.
Boodberg undertook a "graphophonetic analysis" of . Based on the phonetic element "upright; erect" and the radical suggesting movement, he translates as English "arrect" "set upright; direct upward" (from Latin "to") or "insititious" "ingrafted; inserted" potency (from Latin "to implant; to graft"). Interpreting the "heart; mind" to connote "innerness", he takes the prefix from Latin "innate quality; natural disposition" to further neologize "indarrect". Boodberg concludes that the noun is best translated "enrective" in the passive sense of power, or "arrective" in the active sense of influencing others. He says the Chinese understood as potent but not coercive, and as arrective rather than corrective. Since early texts describe as an acquired quality, he proposes it is a paronym of "to acquire; to obtain", which is a common definition of "power; virtue". Lastly, he notes a possible etymology of "see straight; looking straight at things; intuition" because early graphs depicted a straight line over an "eye" (horizontally written in ).
Victor H. Mair proposes a correlation between Proto-Indo-European and .
 was pronounced approximately "dugh" during the early Chou period (about 1100 to 600 B.C.). The meanings it conveys in texts from that era are "character," "[good or bad] intentions," "quality," "disposition," "personality," "personhood," "personal strength," and "worth." There is a very close correlation between these meanings and words deriving from Proto-Indo-European (to be fit, of use, proper; acceptable; achieve). And there is a whole series of words derived from the related Teutonic verbal root "dugan". There are Old High German , Middle High German , and modern German [also see German "Tugend" (virtue)], all of which mean "to be good, fit, of use." There is another cognate group of words relating to modern English "doughty" (meaning worthy, valiant, stouthearted) that also contribute to our understanding of . They are Middle English , , of ("valiant").
In modern Dutch, the noun can be translated as ; the verb means "to have virtue".
According to Axel Schuessler, ; *"tək" "moral force, virtue, character; quality, nature" is probably in the same word family as ; *"tək" "to get" and perhaps ; *"drək" "straight; right". It quotes the proposal of Edwin G. Pulleyblank that and are cognate with Tibetan language "a mighty one, one having power and authority".
Taoist usages.
 (), in Japanese, has its roots in Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist theory. This Art centers on the development of () as the basis of traditional intersectional and integrative health and wellness, encouraging the experience and expression of the practitioners' True Nature (prenatal , Pre-Heaven essence).
The unification of mind, body and environment is emphasised using the anatomy and physiological theory of , (five elements) traditional Chinese medicine. The core foundational movements, exercises, and teachings cultivate, direct, and harmonise the internal and external (energy) to build moral character () to strengthen the connection with (). This in turn gives integrity to the trinity of Heaven, Earth, and Human, (, , ) through the meridian (energy lines) and the (upright energy).
The application of the four pillars are emphasized throughout including, meditation education, ("guiding and pulling" exercises), , (traditional food therapy), and the study of hands-on (acupressure).
The "Daodejing".
 () is a keyword in the "Daodejing" where it occurs 44 times, compared to 76 occurrences of . The title refers to a textual division between the —chapters 1–37, since the first begins with : "The Way that can be told"—and the —chapters 38–81, since chapter 38 begins with . The relatively modern compound word () means "morality, ethical principles, ethics, moral philosophy". Two common themes are its connection with the and its usefulness in managing people.
The first theme is the interrelationship between and . "Such the scope of the All-pervading Power. That it alone can act through the Way." Chapter 38, the so-called " Chapter", has the greatest number of occurrences. Note that is translated as "power" in the following translations.
The man of highest "power" does not reveal himself as a possessor of "power";
Therefore he keeps his "power".
The man of inferior "power" cannot rid it of the appearance of "power";
Therefore he is in truth without "power".
The man of highest "power" neither acts nor is there any who so regards him; The man of inferior "power" both acts and is so regarded.
The man of highest humanity, though he acts, is not regarded;
Whereas a man of even the highest morality both acts and is so regarded;
While even he who is best versed in ritual not merely acts, but if people fail to respond
Then he will pull up his sleeves and advance upon them. That is why it is said:
"After Tao was lost, then came the 'power';
After the 'power' was lost, then came human kindness."
After human kindness was lost, then came morality,
After morality was lost, then came ritual.
Here is another example:
Truly, if one uses the Way as one's instrument, the results will be like the Way; if one uses the "power" as instrument, the results will be like the "power". If one uses what is the reverse of the "power", the results will be the reverse of the "power".
For to those who have conformed themselves to the Way, the Way readily lends its power. To those who have conformed themselves to the power, the power readily, lends more power. While to those who conform themselves to inefficacy, inefficacy readily lends its ineffectiveness.
Compare this third example:
Tao gave them birth;
The "power" of Tao reared them,
Shaped them according to their kinds,
Perfected them, giving to each its strength.
Therefore of the ten thousand things there is not one that does not worship Tao and do homage to its "power". No mandate ever went forth that accorded to Tao the right to be worshiped, nor to its "power" the right to be worshiped, nor to its "power" the right to receive homage.
It was always and of itself so.
Therefore as Tao bore them and the "power" of Tao reared them, made them grow, fostered them, harboured them, brewed for them, so you must,
Rear them, but not lay claim to them,
Control them, but never lean upon them,
Be chief among them, but not manage them.
This is called the "mysterious power."
Chapters 10 and 65 also use this ( "dark/mysterious ") phrase.
The second "Daodejing" theme is the efficacy of for statesmanship (see meanings six and seven above). A sage ruler can acquire sufficient to influence his subjects through, in effect, government.
You cannot rule men nor serve heaven unless you have laid up a store;
This "laying up a store" means quickly absorbing,
And "quickly absorbing" means doubling one's garnered "power".
Double your garnered power and it acquires