Tao

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Composition ¹:
道 (dào) is
首 (shǒu) 'head' and
辶 (辵 chuò) 'go'
(Source: Wenlin)

Pinyin: Dào

Wade-Giles: Tao

Japanese: Dō, (tō), michi

Korean: 도 (To)

Vietnamese: Đạo

Tao or Dao (道, Pinyin: Dào, pronounced "taů" or "daů") refers to a Chinese character that was of pivotal meaning in ancient Chinese philosophy and religion. Its most generic meaning, it refers to the "head path," and is generally translated into English as "The Way".

The semantics of 道 vary widely depending on the context, and may variously refer to a concept of religion, morality, duty, knowledge, rationality, ultimate truth, path, or taste. The CEDICT allows several different definition words for 道, as it varies in translation:

direction, way, method, road, path, principle, truth, reason, skill, method, Tao (of Taoism), a measure word, to say, to speak, and to talk.

Tao is central to Taoism, but Confucianism also uses it to refer to "The Way," or the "noble way" of personal conduct in life. The philosophic and religious use of the character can be analyzed in two main segments: one meaning is "doctrine" or "discourse"; every school owns and defends a specific Tao or discourse about doctrine. In the other meaning, there is the 'Great Tao', that is the source of and guiding principle behind all the processes of the universe. Beyond being and non-being, prior to space and time, Tao is the intelligent ordering principle behind the unceasing flow of change in the natural world. In this sense Tao gains great cosmological and metaphysical significance comparable to the theistic concept of God; the Greek concept of the logos; or the Dharma in Indian religions.

The nature and meaning of the Tao received its first full exposition in the Tao Te Ching of Laozi, a work which along with those of Confucius and Mencius would have a far-reaching effect on the intellectual, moral and religious life of the Chinese people. Although a book of practical wisdom in many ways, its profoundly metaphysical character was unique among the prevailing forms of thought in China at that time. The religion and philosophy based on the teaching of Laozi and his successor Zhuangzi is known in English as "Taoism." Even though the Tao is often said to be undefinable and unexplainable with words (even Chinese ones), the present article focuses on the Tao of Taoism.

Some characteristics of Tao

There is a flow in the universe, and it is called dao. Dao flows slowly, however; it is never stagnant and is incredibly powerful and keeps things in the universe balanced and in order. It manifests itself through change of seasons, cycle of life, shifts of power, time, and so forth. Dao has a strong and deep connection with cosmology and the natural world, as the most well-known Daoist philosophers Laozi and Zhuangzi agreed. Dao is the law of Nature. When you follow dao, you become one with it. And it is best to also understand chi, because chi and dao go hand in hand. Chi is a Chinese term that is translated as breath, vapour, and energy. Because chi is the energy that circulates the universe, it can be said that dao is ultimately a flow of chi. Being one with dao brings best outcomes, because that way things fall into place that they are meant to be.

The concept of Tao is based upon the understanding that the only constant in the universe is change, (ie. I Ching, the "Book of Changes") and that we must understand and be in harmony with this change. The change is a constant flow from non-being into being, potential into actual, yin into yang, female into male. The symbol of the Tao, called the Taijitu, is the yin yang confluently flowing into itself in a circle.

The Tao is the main theme discussed in the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese scripture attributed to Lao Tsu. This book does not specifically define what the Tao is; it affirms that in the first sentence, "The Tao that can be told of is not an Unvarying Tao" (tr. Waley, modified). Instead, it points to some characteristics of what could be understood as being the Tao. Below are some excerpts from the book.

Tao as the origin of things: "Tao begets one; One begets two; Two begets three; Three begets the myriad creatures." (TTC 42, tr. Lau, modified)
Tao as an inexhaustible nothingness: "The Way is like an empty vessel / That yet may be drawn from / Without ever needing to be filled." (TTC 4, tr. Waley)
Tao is omnipotent and infallible: "What Tao plants cannot be plucked, what Tao clasps, cannot slip." (TTC 54, tr. Waley)

In the Yi Jing, a sentence closely relates Tao to Yin-Yang or Taiji, asserting that "one (phase of) Yin, one (phase of) Yang, is what is called the Tao". Being thus placed at the conjunction of Yin and Yang alternance, Tao can be understood as the continuity principle that underlies the constant evolution of the world.

Most debates between proponents of one of the Hundred Schools of Thought could be summarized in the simple question: who is closer to the Tao, or, in other words, whose "Tao" is the most powerful? As used in modern spoken and written Chinese, Tao has a wide scope of usage and meaning.

Tao in the ''Tao Te Ching

Tao is referred to in many ways in the Tao Te Ching. There are different shades of meanings in the various translations of this great work, which, with over 100 translations, is perhaps the most translated Chinese text in the English language. Here is one translation of the first stanza, describing Tao:

''The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;

''The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

''The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.

''The named is the mother of ten thousand things.

''Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.

''Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.

''These two spring from the same source but differ in name;

''this appears as darkness.

''Darkness within darkness.

The gate to all mystery.

—(Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English, 1972).

Etymology

According to Rose Quong in her book Their Wit and Wisdom, the Tao character is decomposed to mean "the path of the warrior," where warrior-monks were the original keepers of both martial arts and spiritual knowledge and wisdom.

The composition of 道 (dào) is 首 (shǒu) meaning 'head' and 辶 (辵 chuò) 'go' (Source: Wenlin). The decomposition etymology for the character 首 is distinguished by the tufts at the top, representing the distinctive hairstyle of the warrior class (a "bun"). The character 首 itself is used to refer to concepts related to the head, such as leadership and rulership.

The character 辶 (辵 chuò) 'go' in its reduced form, 廴 resembles a foot, and is meant to be evocative of its meaning "to walk," and "to go," as well as the generic radix for "the way of." This reduced radical 廴 is a component in other radicals and characters.

References

Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English (translators). 1972. Lao Tsu/Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books.
Rose Quong (Author) & Dr. Kinn Wei Shaw (Illustrator). 1944. Chinese Characters: Their Wit and Wisdom. Ram Press.

External links

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Some characteristics of Tao

Tao in the ''Tao Te Ching

Etymology

References

See also

External links