This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
理 (lǐ, “principle, reason”): 王 + 里 = 理. 王 is heaven, earth and humanity; what lies inside them (里), within, is 理. So where does this 理 come from?
理 is pronounced the same as 李 (lǐ): it is the principle spoken by a person surnamed Li. 李 is 木 (wood, tree) + 子 (child). The 木 is the Jianmu, the Building Tree, which according to legend was the bridge connecting heaven, earth, humanity and the gods. Fuxi, the Yellow Emperor and the other sovereigns all travelled up and down between the human world and the heavenly court by this sacred ladder. In fact, this Jianmu is the shape of the universe; the universe is like a tree. The child of the universe is 李.
道理 (dàolǐ, “reason, principle”): what is inside the Dao, within it; the inside (里) of the Dao is 道理.
道德 (dàodé, “morality”): what is gained in accordance with the Dao is virtue (德); the matter accumulated by acting in accordance with the principles of the Dao is 德. The outward aspect of the Dao is 德, the manifestation of the Dao.
Thus 道理 and 道德 are one yin and one yang, one outer and one inner, yin and yang to each other.
