The Master said:
“How vast and powerful is the virtue of ghosts and spirits!
You look but do not see them; you listen but do not hear them –
yet they permeate and sustain all things, never absent from any.”
“Because of this, people throughout the world purify themselves, dress in solemn attire,
and reverently perform sacrifices.
In that moment, the presence of the spirits fills the air –
as if above them, as if beside them.
The Book of Odes says:
‘When the spirits arrive, their coming cannot be fathomed!
How much less can one presume to slight or defy them!’
Thus, what is most subtle becomes manifest;
such is the irresistible power of sincerity (cheng)!”
子曰：「鬼神之為德，其盛矣乎！
視之而弗見，聽之而弗聞，體物而不可遺。
使天下之人齊明盛服，以承祭祀，洋洋乎如在其上，如在其左右。
《詩》曰：『神之格思，不可度思！矧可射思！』
夫微之顯，誠之不可掩如此夫。」
Note
This chapter from the Doctrine of the Mean uses the “virtue of ghosts and spirits” to elucidate the Confucian concept of sincerity – a central philosophical idea – and reveals its cosmological significance as a bridge between the metaphysical and the mundane, the invisible and the manifest.
First, “you look but do not see them; you listen but do not hear them” indicates that ghosts and spirits are not objects of sensory perception but transcendent moral presences. Yet “they permeate and sustain all things, never absent from any” affirms their omnipresence.
In Confucian thought, they are not anthropomorphic deities, but the subtle manifestation of Heaven’s generative virtue – the immanent creative force and moral order of the cosmos. As Zhu Xi explains in his Commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean: “Ghosts and spirits are the wondrous functioning of the two vital forces (yin and yang).” They represent one mode through which the Way (Dao) manifests itself.
Second, the purpose of sacrifice is not to “please supernatural beings,” but to awaken reverence and inner sincerity through ritual acts like purification and solemn dress. When one participates in sacrifice with utmost sincerity, one resonates with the unseen moral cosmos, experiencing a palpable sense of presence – “as if above, as if beside.” This is not superstition, but a spiritual state of attunement between the moral self and cosmic order.
The quotation from the Book of Odes – “When the spirits arrive, their coming cannot be fathomed!” – further underscores the unfathomable nature of the divine (i.e., Heavenly Principle, the substance of the Way) and warns against presumption or irreverence.
The concluding line – “what is most subtle becomes manifest; such is the irresistible power of sincerity” – reveals the core message: true sincerity, though inward and hidden, inevitably manifests outwardly as virtuous conduct and cosmic resonance. This prefigures later passages in the Doctrine of the Mean such as “Utmost sincerity is like the spirits” and “Sincerity is the beginning and end of all things.”
Thus, this chapter is not promoting religious mysticism but using “ghosts and spirits” as a metaphor to articulate the profound philosophical depth of sincerity in Confucianism – sincerity is both the authentic, unfeigned state of the inner heart-mind and the fundamental force that unites humanity with Heaven.
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