“To be virtuous is to be virtuous, because there is no virtue. To be virtuous is to be virtuous, to be virtuous.” It means:

High-level “virtue” does not emphasize the appearance.” Be virtuous”, therefore it is truly “virtuous”. Low-level "virtue" thinks that it has not lost "virtue", so it actually has no "virtue". A truly virtuous person will not talk about his virtue and deliberately use certain behaviors to prove his virtue. This is a truly virtuous person. A person with low virtue seems to display virtue everywhere, and it seems appropriate to use the framework of virtue to compare, but in fact he is a person without virtue.

Extended information

Selected from "Tao Te Ching"

Chapter 38

There is no virtue in virtue, so there is virtue ; To be virtuous is not to lose virtue, but to be without virtue.

The highest virtue is inaction and inaction. Shangren did it without thinking.

Shangyi means to do it. If you don't respond to the gift, you will throw it away.

Therefore, morality is followed by morality, benevolence is followed by morality, righteousness is followed by righteousness, etiquette is followed by righteousness.

Those who are polite and loyal will lead to chaos.

Those who know beforehand are the brilliance of Tao and the beginning of foolishness.

This is why a true man should be concerned with the thick and not the weak; he should be honest and not the beautiful.

Therefore go to that other and take this.

This chapter is the beginning of "Tao Jing". Some people think that the first part starts with the word "Tao", so it is called the "Tao Jing"; the second part starts with the word "德", so it is called the "De Jing".

This chapter is relatively difficult to understand in the Tao Te Ching. Laozi believes that the attribute of "Tao" is expressed as "virtue", and any behavior that is in line with "Tao" is "virtuous", and vice versa is "unvirtuous". "Tao" and "morality" are inseparable, but they are different. Because "virtue" can be divided into upper and lower levels, "higher virtue" is completely in line with the spirit of "Tao".

"De" is the embodiment of "Tao" in the human world, "Tao" is the objective law, and "De" refers to human beings' understanding and acting in accordance with objective laws. When people apply "Tao" to the function produced by human society, it is "Germany".

Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia - Tao Te Ching · Morality and Immorality