Tao Te Ching, 54

He who is well established (in Tao) cannot be pulled away.

He who has a firm grasp (of Tao) cannot be separated from it.

Thus from generation to generation his ancestral sacrifice will never be suspended.

When one cultivates virtue in his person, it becomes genuine virtue.

When one cultivates virtue in his family, it become overflowing virtue.

When one cultivates virtue in his community, it becomes lasting virtue.

When one cultivates virtue in his country, it becomes abundant virtue.

When one cultivates virtue in the world, it becomes universal.

Therefore the person should be viewed as a person.

The family should be viewed as a family.

The community should be viewed as community.

The country should be viewed as a country.

And the world should be viewed as the world.

How do I know this to be the case in the world?

Through this (from the cultivation of virtue in the person to that in the world). (Tao Te Ching, 54)

Today, I would try to interpret the above text from the topic "The Te".

In the said text, it can be understood that the Te or the virtue is based on the Tao. It is something that is attached to the person when he has fully grasped the Tao. It is said that when a person has fully grasped it, he can never be separated from it. He can never be pulled away from the Tao. The Tao here demands to be acted out. The Tao is not only a principle or a theory that is only to be known but it demands to be lived.

The role of the Te here is after grasping the Tao. The person starts to establish the Tao using virtues. It starts from the self up to the world. Cultivating the Te from the self to the world makes the Tao be established not only to the self but also to the world. The acting out of it comes naturally and sharing it to the world can be known through the cultivated virtue.