De
Glossary: de 德 — virtue, power, integrity; the Dao's working in things.
De (德, dé) — “virtue/power”: the way the Dao works in a thing — its native potency and integrity, not moral virtue in the narrow modern sense. Daodejing ch. 38: “The highest De does not act, and acts without ulterior motive” (上德無為而無以為). The book’s title pairs the two: the Way (Dao) and its working (De).
Translation note: “virtue” misleads toward moralism; “power” misleads toward coercion; “potency” is closer but clinical. Arthur Waley’s “power” and modern scholarship’s “integrity” are both partial. Keep romanized in technical contexts; gloss as “virtue/power.”
See the full concept page: De. See also the Daodejing page.
Sources
- Daodejing ch. 38 ('the highest De does not act')