Tao

Tao or Dao (道, Pinyin: Dào, Cantonese: Dou) is a Chinese character often translated as ‘Way’ or 'Path'. In ancient China, dao could be modified by other nouns. Three such compounds gained special currency in Classical Chinese philosophy. 天道 Tian dao (sky or natural dao--usually translated religiously as "heaven's Tao") 大道 Da Dao (Great dao--the actual course of all history--everything that has happened or will happen) and 人道 Ren dao (human dao, the normative orders constructed by human (social) practices). The natural dao corresponds roughly to the order expressed in the totality of natural (physical) laws. The relations of these three were the subject of the discourses of Lao Tsu and Confucius.