Through a detailed analysis of de德 as used in the Four Books (Sishu 四書), this article is intended to examine the unity between two kinds of virtue manifested respectively through cultivating an admirable character in one’s self (moral agent) and enabling aretaic activities in the public sphere (political agent). By investigating how early Confucian masters integrate internal goodness and virtuous governance as the moral reasons for the common good and the flourishing of human community, we seek to reconstruct the ethics in the Four Books that is focused on de as the gravity center. This leads in turn to an account of a particular kind of “virtue ethics” or better, de ethics, which has underpinned all Confucian discourses on personal character and political practices.

通过对de的详细分析德如四书所用（四书 四书)，本文旨在考察两种美德的统一，这两种美德分别通过在自己身上培养一种令人钦佩的品格（道德代理人）和在公共领域开展活动（政治代理人）来实现。通过考察早期儒家如何将内善与德政整合为共同善和人类社会繁荣的道德原因，我们试图重构以德为重心的四书伦理。这反过来又导致了对特定类型的“德伦理”或更好的德伦理的描述，它支撑着所有儒家关于个人性格和政治实践的话语。