Wa No Michi in Chinese / Japanese...

心の道 is “Kokoro no Michi” or “The Way of the Heart” in Japanese.

徹 is commonly used in Japan as a given name, romanized as Tetsu.

The meaning of this Kanji is: thorough; penetrating; to pervade; to pass through; pervious; perspicacious; throughout; communal.

徹 can also be romanized as Michi; Tooru; Touru; Tetsuji; Tsuyoshi; Choru; Osamu; Itaru; or Akira.

未知 means “unknown” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This can also mean, not yet known, strange, or does not know (yet).

In Japanese, this can also be the female given names Michi, Miharu, Minori, Michiru, or Misato.

This is the most common version of a Chinese surname that romanizes as Fong from Taiwan or Fang from mainland China.

The meaning of this character is square, upright, honest, fair and square, direction, place, or side. Sometimes 方 can refer to a method, prescription, or way of doing things.

In Japanese, this can be the given names Michi, Masani, Masashi,Tamotsu, Tadashi. It can also be Japanese surnames Hon, Hou, Ho, Fuon, Pan, Ban, Tokukata, or Kata.

吾道一以貫之 is a phrase from the Analects of Confucius that translates as “My Way has one thread that runs through it.”

Other translations include:
My Way is penetrated by a single thread.
There is one single thread binding my Way together.
My Way is run through with a unifying thread.
My Way is Consistent.
And sometimes poetic license is taken, and it is translated as:
My Way is the only one; I'll treasure it and stick to it with humility until the end.

After this was said, some 2500+ years ago, another disciple of Confucius clarified the meaning by stating, “Our master's Way is to be loyal and have a sense of reciprocity.”

In Japanese, this is purported to be romanized as “Waga michi ichi wo motte kore wo tsuranuku,” though some will argue the true pronunciation.

Note: Sometimes written 吾道以一貫之 instead of 吾道一以貫之 with no difference in meaning.

道 is the character “dao” which is sometimes written as “tao” but pronounced like “dow” in Mandarin.

道 is the base of what is known as “Taoism.” If you translate this literally, it can mean “the way” or “the path.”

Dao is believed to be that which flows through all things and keeps them in balance. It incorporates the ideas of yin and yang (e.g. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)

The beginning of Taoism can be traced to a mystical man named
Lao Zi (604-531 BC), who followed, and added to the teachings of Confucius.

More about Taoism / Daoism here.

Note that this is pronounced “dou” and sometimes “michi” when written alone in Japanese but pronounced “do” in word compounds such as Karate-do and Bushido. It's also “do” in Korean.

Alternate translations and meanings: road, way, path; truth, principle province.

Important Japanese note: In Japanese, this will generally be read with the road, way, or path meaning. Taoism is not as popular or well-known in Japan so Daoist/Taoist philosophy is not the first thing a Japanese person will think of when they read this character.

See our Taoism Page

千里の道も一歩から is the Japanese version of an ancient Chinese proverb that means “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Some will also translate this as a 1000-mile road starts with one brick (a small amount).

In this case, the real measurement is an ancient Chinese “li” or 里, which is romanized as “ri” in Japanese. It's about half a kilometer, so three 里 would be a western mile. A journey of 333 miles begins with a single step, just doesn't sound as natural.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.