For other uses, see Dao (disambiguation) and Tao (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Tau.
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Taoism
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Deities
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Four Sovereigns
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Houtu Huang Diqi (Empress of the Earth)
Others
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People
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Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
Guo Xiang
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Ge Hong
Bao Jingyan
Kou Qianzhi
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Zhu Quan
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Schools
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Way of the Taiping
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Lingbao
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Wudoumi
Southern Tianshi
Northern Tianshi
Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity)
Folk Taoism
Yao Taoism
Sacred places
Grotto-heavens
Sacred Mountains of China
Wudang Mountains
Mount Penglai
Mount Kunlun
Taoist temple
White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Monastery)
Louguantai Temple
Cebu Taoist Temple
Taoist Temple (Hanford, California)
Institutions and organizations
Chinese Taoist Association
Celestial Masters
Taoist priests
v
t
e
Tao
Chinese name
Chinese
道
Literal meaning
way
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
dào
Bopomofo
ㄉㄠˋ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh
daw
Wade–Giles
tao4
Yale Romanization
dàu
IPA
[tâʊ]ⓘ
Wu
Romanization
doh入
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization
douh
Jyutping
dou6
IPA
[tou˨]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
tō
Tâi-lô
tō
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
dáw
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet
đạo
Chữ Hán
道
Korean name
Hangul
도
Hanja
道
Transcriptions
Revised Romanization
do
McCune–Reischauer
to
Japanese name
Kanji
道
Hiragana
どう
Transcriptions
Romanization
dō
English name
English
/daʊ/DOW, /taʊ/TOW
In various Chinese religions and philosophies, the Tao or Dao[note 1] is the natural way of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, religion, and related traditions. This seeing of life cannot be grasped as a concept. Rather, it is seen through actual living experience of one's everyday being. Its name derives from a Chinese character with meanings including 'way', 'path', 'road', and sometimes 'doctrine' or 'principle'.[1]
In the Tao Te Ching, Laozi explains that the Tao is not a name for a thing, but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe because it is non-conceptual yet evident in one's being of aliveness. The Tao is "eternally nameless" and should be distinguished from the countless named things that are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.
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In various Chinese religions and philosophies, the Tao or Dao is the natural way of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize...
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