What does it mean to accumulate goodness into virtue?

"Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the saints are prepared" means: accumulate goodness to cultivate noble morality, improve spirit, and thus gain the state of mind of saints.

This sentence comes from Xunzi's "Xunzi's admonition" in the Warring States Period. The original sentence is as follows:

Accumulated soil becomes mountains, and the wind and rain are prosperous; The water drops merged into the ocean and the dragon was born; Accumulate goodness into virtue, the gods are complacent, and the sacred heart is prepared. Therefore, you can't take Wan Li Road without accumulating steps; If you don't accumulate small streams, you won't be a river. Leap, not ten steps; This is a great contribution to the success of Ma Xu.

Vernacular translation:

Earth and rock piled up into mountains, from which wind and rain started; Water flows into the abyss, and dragons are born from it; Accumulate good deeds, cultivate noble morality, improve spirit, and thus have the state of mind of a saint. Therefore, without the accumulation of half a step, there is no way to reach thousands of miles away; Without the accumulation of tiny flowing water, there is no way to merge into the rivers and seas. The horse jumped less than ten paces; A bad horse walks for ten days in a row, and its success lies in its non-stop.

Extended data

Creation background

During the Warring States period, slavery further collapsed, the feudal system gradually formed, and epoch-making changes took place in history. Many thinkers expressed their opinions on the social changes at that time from different positions and angles, and gradually formed different factions such as Mohism, Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism, which was called "a hundred schools of thought contend" in history. A hundred schools of thought contend and wrote many books, publicizing their own views and criticizing others, resulting in a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend".

Xunzi was a representative figure of Confucianism in the late Warring States period. He believes that the existence of nature does not depend on human will, but people can use subjective efforts to understand it, adapt to it and use it. In order to reveal the significance of learning the day after tomorrow, he created the article "Encouraging Learning".