Sinograph Addenda · Signs

way

Name	way
Reads	dào
Means	way, road; the Way; to guide
Taught in	05 · The belonging thread

Where it comes from

A head 首 moving under the walking radical 辶 — a person going down a road; the stated account. From “road” the word widened to method, principle, and the absolute the Laozi is named for — and, as a verb, “to guide” and “to tell”. Taught in the belonging-thread chapter.

How to remember it

Where the head goes, the feet follow: the way.

In the wild

道生一，一生二，二生三。dào shēng yī, yī shēng èr, èr shēng sān"the Way begets one, one begets two, two begets three" — the begat-list that opens onto everything there is

Laozi 42. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR5c0057:042:1a · license: attribution.