Tao in Chinese / Japanese...

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

道德經 are the Chinese characters for the writings of Laozi/Lao Tzu known as the Dàodéjīng or Tao Tê Ching.

To breakdown the meaning of the characters:

道 means “way,” though many refer to it as “the Way.” It has been romanized as Tao or Dao. The Dao has been referred to by Confucius, Mencius, and other ancient Chinese philosophers.

德 means virtue, integrity, or morality.

經 in this context means canon, great book, sacred book, scripture, or classic.

心道 means “The Way of the Heart” or “The Way of the Soul.” The first character means “heart” but can also mean soul, spirit, mind, or your essence. In this case, it is most accurately translated with the heart or soul meaning.

The second character is Dao as in Daoism. Please note, this is the same thing as Tao as in Taoism (just Romanized differently - it's always been the same in Chinese for about 2300 years.

人道 is literally the “The Way of Being Human,” or “The Human Way.” It can also be translated as “humanity.”

人道 has a secondary meaning of “sidewalk” as in “the way for people to walk” (in Japanese and Korean only). But as calligraphy artwork, nobody will read it with that translation.

Please note that there are two ways to Romanize Dao or Tao (Daoism = Taoism). It's the same word in Chinese.

This text is the ninth chapter of the Daodejing / Tao Te Ching.

The text reads:
持而盈之、不如其已。揣而梲之、不可長保。 金玉滿堂、莫之能守。 富貴而驕、自遺其咎。 功遂身退、天之道。

This classical Chinese passage comes from the Mawangdui (馬王堆帛書) text.

一曰慈二曰儉三曰不敢為天下先 is an excerpt from the 67th Chapter of Lao Tzu's (Lao Zi's) Te-Tao Ching (Dao De Jing).

This is the part where the three treasures are discussed. In English, we'd say these three treasures are compassion, frugality, and humility. Some may translate these as love, moderation, and lack of arrogance. I have also seen them translated as benevolence, modesty, and “Not presuming to be at the forefront in the world.” You can mix them up the way you want, as translation is not really a science but rather an art.

I should also explain that the first two treasures are single-character ideas, yet the third treasure was written out in six characters (there are also some auxiliary characters to number the treasures).

If Lao Tzu's words are important to you, then a wall scroll with this passage might make a great addition to your home.

This text is the first chapter of the Daodejing / Tao Te Ching.

The text reads:
道可道、非常道。名可名、非常名。 無名天地之始 有名萬物之母。故常無欲以觀其妙、常有欲以觀其徼。此兩者同出而異名。同謂之玄。玄之又玄、衆妙之門。

This classical Chinese passage comes from the Mawangdui (馬王堆帛書) text.

This is the Mawangdui version of Daodejing chapter 54.

This is referred to as passage or chapter 33 of the Dao De Jing (often Romanized as “Tao Te Ching”).

These are the words of the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu).

Notes:

During our research, the Chinese characters shown here are probably the most accurate to the original text of Laozi. These were taken for the most part from the Mawangdui 1973 and Guodan 1993 manuscripts which pre-date other Daodejing texts by about 1000 years.

Grammar was a little different in Laozi’s time. So you should consider this to be the ancient Chinese version. Some have modernized this passage by adding, removing, or swapping articles and changing the grammar (we felt the oldest and most original version would be more desirable). You may find other versions printed in books or online - sometimes these modern texts are simply used to explain to Chinese people what the original text really means.

This language issue can be compared in English by thinking how the King James (known as the Authorized version in Great Britain) Bible from 1611 was written, and comparing it to modern English. Now imagine that the Daodejing was probably written around 403 BCE (2000 years before the King James Version of the Bible). To a Chinese person, the original Daodejing reads like text that is 3 times more detached compared to Shakespeare’s English is to our modern-day speech.

Extended notes:

While on this Biblical text comparison, it should be noted, that just like the Bible, all the original texts of the Daodejing were lost or destroyed long ago. Just as with the scripture used to create the Bible, various manuscripts exist, many with variations or copyist errors. Just as the earliest New Testament scripture (incomplete) is from 170 years after Christ, the earliest Daodejing manuscript (incomplete) is from 100-200 years after the death of Laozi.

The reason that the originals were lost probably has a lot to do with the first Qin Emperor. Upon taking power and unifying China, he ordered the burning and destruction of all books (scrolls/rolls) except those pertaining to Chinese medicine and a few other subjects. The surviving Daodejing manuscripts were either hidden on purpose or simply forgotten about. Some were not unearthed until as late as 1993.

We compared a lot of research by various archeologists and historians before deciding on this as the most accurate and correct version. But one must allow that it may not be perfect, or the actual and original as from the hand of Laozi himself.

信言不美美言不信知者不博博者不知善者不多多者不善聖人無積既以為人己癒有既以予人矣已癒多故天之道利而不害聖人之道為而不爭 is the Mawangdui version of Daodejing chapter 81.

道教 is the title often used in both Chinese and Japanese to describe the beliefs or religion of Taoism / Daoism.

The first character is simply “dao” and the second character can be translated as “teachings,” “faith” or “doctrine.”

島 means island in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

There are a few variants of this 島 character.
嶌 is sometimes used in Japan for place names. 嶋 is another variant that used to refer to the zone or area of operation of an organized crime gang or prostitution ring.
Be careful which character you use. But don’t worry, we’ll only write a proper island Kanji for you.

浪之道 is a great title for a surfer whose lifestyle is entwined with the surf and waves.

This can be translated a few different ways:
The Way of the Wave
The Dao of the Wave
The Tao of the Waves
Note: Dao and Tao are the same character (道), just sometimes romanized differently.

孝道 most clearly expresses the Confucian philosophy of filial piety.

Confucius taught that all should be respectful and obedient to their parents. Included in this idea is honoring your ancestors.

The second character is “dao/tao” or “the way” as in Taoism. You can say this title is “The Tao of Filial Piety” or “The Way of Filial Piety.”

See Also:  Confucius

茶道 means The Way of Tea (literally, “tea way”) in Chinese and Japanese.

This may refer to a tea ceremony or a general lifestyle of tea preparation and drinking.

In Japanese, this can be pronounced sadō or chadō (seems that sadō refers more often to a tea ceremony, and chadō when it's the Way of Tea).

茶道 is also used in the Buddhist context with the same meaning as the Way of Tea.

波の道 is the simple way to write “The Way of the Wave” in Japanese.

I added this at the request of several customers. 波の道 is not a very common Japanese phrase.

波 = Wave
の = Of
道 = Way
The word order is the opposite of English. Most Japanese phrases that end in “の道” are translated to English as “The Way of...”

Technically, you could write “波道” as a shorter version of “The Way of the Wave.” However, without context, 波道 can mean channel or suggest a path to redirect ocean flow.

太極拳道 is the common Tai Chi Chuan title with “Dao” (the Way) added to the end.

If you're not sure, I suggest shorter titles such as “Tai Chi Chuan,” or just “Tai Chi.”