never known boundaries; speech has no constancy. But because of [the recognition of a] "this," there came to be boundaries. Let me tell you what the boundaries are. There is left, there is right, there are theories, there are debates, there are divisions, there are discriminations, there are emulations, and there are contentions. These are called the Eight Virtues. (2, tr. ) Later Confucianists misread this Daoist context and moralistically interpreted bade as xiao "filial piety", di "sibling piety", zhong "loyalty; fidelity", xin "trust; believe", li "ritual; rites; courtesy", yi "righteousness; right conduct", lian "upright; honorable; integrity", and zhi "humility; shame". Confucianist usages The Four Books of Confucianism give some insightful explanations of de "virtue". Note that the following quotations cite Charles Muller's scholarly translations of the Analects, Doctrine of the Mean, Great Learning, and Mencius. The more familiar translations of James Legge render ren "humaneness; human-heartedness" as "perfect virtue", which occasionally creates confusion with de as "virtue". Compare their translations of these two Analects passages. Yen Yüan asked about [] perfect virtue. The Master said, "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him. Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?" (12:1, tr. Legge) Yen Yüan asked about the meaning of [] humaneness. The Master said, "To completely overcome selfishness and keep to propriety is humaneness. If for a full day you can overcome selfishness and keep to propriety, everyone in the world will return to humaneness. Does humaneness come from oneself, or from others?" (12:1, tr. Muller) The Master said, "Let the will be set on the path of duty. Let [] every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. Let [] perfect virtue be accorded with. Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts." (7:6, tr. Legge) Confucius said: "Set your aspirations on the Tao, hold to [] virtue, rely on your [] humaneness, and relax in the study of the arts." (7:6, tr. Muller) The AnalectsDe occurs 40 times in the Confucian Lunyu or Analects. While Confucius extolled de "virtue; morality" — "If you are virtuous, you will not be lonely. You will always have friends." (4:25) — he frequently criticized his contemporaries for having lost it. He described de as