A quotation and its interpretive setting
Hanfeizi introduces this wording with 故曰; the same wording appears in the pinned Laozi 38. That explicit framing supports a textual connection. Read the surrounding commentary to see what Hanfeizi makes of it; the match does not establish the whole history or direction of transmission of these witnesses.
故曰：「上德不德，是以有德。」Explicit quotation formula and matching statement.
tls · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR3c0005_020.txt, lines 49–53上德不德，是以有德The corresponding statement in the received Laozi witness.
tls · CC BY-SA 4.0 · KR5c0057_038.txt, lines 14–26Make the comparison explicit
Hanfeizi introduces this wording with 故曰; the same wording appears in the pinned Laozi 38. That explicit framing supports a textual connection. Read the surrounding commentary to see what Hanfeizi makes of it; the match does not establish the whole history or direction of transmission of these witnesses.
韓非子: Explicit quotation formula and matching statement.
老子: The corresponding statement in the received Laozi witness.
What makes this connection stronger than a keyword match?
Hanfeizi marks cited speech and reproduces the corresponding formulation.
Shared words, images, or constructions do not by themselves establish common meaning, authorship, or origin. An explicit citation is identified only where the wording itself supports it.
zimai · AI-assisted editorial notes · Editorial pilot · not independently reviewed. Original learning material: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source text, scholarly reference, and editorial interpretation remain separately attributed.