Within the Tao Te Ching, Tao and Te stand in a relationship of source and manifestation. Tao is portrayed as the ineffable, formless Way that underlies and generates all things, while Te is the way that this hidden principle becomes visible and operative in the world of particular beings and actions. Te is thus the Tao as it is concretely expressed in a person, a ruler, an object, or a situation. When something is in genuine harmony with the Tao, its effective power, its “virtue” in the deepest sense, is called Te.

Te is not primarily a moral virtue in the conventional sense, but an inner potency or inherent character that arises from alignment with the Tao. It is the natural capacity that appears when there is no forcing, no egoic striving, and action flows in the spirit of non-action (wu-wei). Those who embody Te exert influence without domination and achieve effectiveness without struggle, precisely because their actions are unobtrusively rooted in the Way. In this sense, Te is the Tao operating through each being’s particular nature, the individualized power that allows each thing to fulfill what it truly is.

The text also suggests a gradation in the quality of Te depending on proximity to the Tao. When the Tao is forgotten or obscured, Te declines into lower forms: what was once spontaneous virtue becomes self-conscious morality, rigid righteousness, and dependence on external rules. High Te is quiet, unselfconscious, and natural; low Te is moralistic, contrived, and anxious about its own virtue. To “cultivate” Te, therefore, is less a matter of adding qualities than of ceasing to obstruct the Tao, returning to simplicity and allowing the original, unforced nature to function.

Seen in this way, Tao and Te are not two separate principles but two aspects of a single reality: Tao as the hidden ground, Te as its living expression. Tao provides the underlying unity and order of existence; Te is that unity as it becomes the concrete power of beings who move in harmony with the Way. Where Tao is, in itself, beyond description, Te is how its presence can be recognized—through actions that are effective yet unforced, powerful yet humble, fully engaged yet free of contention.