# Critique of Conventional Virtue in Tao Te Ching

> Theme guide for Tao Te Ching by Laozi.

The book critiques Confucian virtues like benevolence, righteousness, and propriety, arguing that they emerge only when the Tao is lost, and that they represent a decline from a more natural, unselfconscious state of harmony.

## Where it surfaces

- [Preface by James Legge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/preface-by-james-legge): Legge discusses the opposition between Taoism and Confucianism, highlighting Taoism's critique of Confucian moral and social principles.
- [Was Taoism Older Than Laozi?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/was-taoism-older-than-laozi): Chuang-tzŭ's condemnation of Huang Ti for disturbing the 'State of Perfect Unity' suggests a critique of conventional governance and virtue.
- [Accounts of Laozi and Chuang-Tzŭ Given by Ssŭ-Ma Chʽien](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/accounts-of-laozi-and-chuang-tz-given-by-ss-ma-ch-ien): Chuang-tzŭ satirizes Confucians and Mohists, exposing their doctrines through metaphorical illustrations.
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-i-v): Heaven, Earth, and sages do not act from benevolence (jen), treating all things and people as straw dogs—an impersonal, non-interventionist approach that critiques conventional moralizing.
- [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-i-xviii): The chapter argues that benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and loyalty emerge only after the Great Tao is abandoned, implying these conventional virtues are signs of decline.
- [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-i-xix): The chapter directly calls for discarding sageness, wisdom, benevolence, and righteousness as harmful to the people.
- [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-i-xxxi): The chapter subverts conventional martial honor by associating victory with mourning and treating weapons as instruments of evil, challenging societal norms about war.
- [Chapter XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxviii): The chapter deconstructs benevolence, righteousness, and propriety as inferior substitutes when the Tao is lost.
- [LIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-liii): The chapter condemns the superficial virtues and luxurious lifestyles of rulers, contrasting them with the simplicity and humility of the Tao.
- [LVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-lvii): Criticizes the proliferation of prohibitions, implements, crafty dexterity, and legislation as causes of poverty, disorder, and theft.
- [LXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-lxii): The chapter contrasts the value of the Tao with conventional offerings like a round symbol-of-rank and a team of horses, implying that such material gifts are inferior to a lesson of the Tao.
- [LXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-lxxv): The chapter challenges the conventional virtue of valuing life highly, arguing that it leads to recklessness, and instead advocates for a simpler, less self-conscious approach to living.
- [LXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/chapters/part-ii-lxxvii): Human way is criticized for taking from the deficient to add to the superabundant, opposing Heaven's way.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/themes/critique_of_conventional_virtue
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tao_te_ching_se/themes