Talk:Tao

China Top‑importance

	China portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject China, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of China related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ChinaWikipedia:WikiProject ChinaTemplate:WikiProject ChinaChina-related
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Taoism (inactive)

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Taoism, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.TaoismWikipedia:WikiProject TaoismTemplate:WikiProject TaoismTaoism

Philosophy: Religion / Eastern High‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Philosophy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of content related to philosophy on Wikipedia. If you would like to support the project, please visit the project page, where you can get more details on how you can help, and where you can join the general discussion about philosophy content on Wikipedia.PhilosophyWikipedia:WikiProject PhilosophyTemplate:WikiProject PhilosophyPhilosophy

High

This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Associated task forces:
/
	Philosophy of religion
	Eastern philosophy

Religion Mid‑importance

	Religion portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Religion, a project to improve Wikipedia's articles on Religion-related subjects. Please participate by editing the article, and help us assess and improve articles to good and 1.0 standards, or visit the wikiproject page for more details.ReligionWikipedia:WikiProject ReligionTemplate:WikiProject ReligionReligion
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

view · edit

Frequently asked questions

To view the response to a question, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

Romanization of Chinese word "Tao/Dao"

Q: Why is this word romanized as "Tao" in this article when Wikipedia and the scholarly community both normally prefer the use of pinyin for Chinese loanwords, and "Dao" is a better phonetic transcription of the Chinese concept?

A: Because there is a very long tradition in English of writing the word as "Tao" (while still pronouncing it "dow"), and because the English Wikipedia prefers the longstanding historical form of this English word more than it prefers the use of pinyin Chinese for the Chinese word. Please visit the talk page archives for lengthy discussions of this issue.

Archives

Index 1, 2, 3, 4

This page has archives. Sections older than 90 days may be automatically archived by when more than 5 sections are present.

Originated in China due to adv civ early on, is a generic eastern origin/dominant, but no way generic to China or Chinese (racial/nationalist misrepresentation)

would be nice if it said 'history and origins' and then went all 'Chinovision' on the subject. That way modern additions get a natural place, and the subject content rather than worldy instantiation can take prime. 84.241.194.69 (talk) 14:56, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Issue with lede

The grammar definitely needs some work. Wikiblame points to here where the confusing sentence was added in an IP edit. I think it should read:

"... natural order of the universe as discerned intuitively to realize one's potential and wisdom ..."

Since I'm not sure of the original intended meaning (see link), any help improving that sentence would be appreciated! — zmm ~talk~ 21:47, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

We could just revert back. Text before that one was

Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, the Tao is the intuitive knowing of "life" that cannot be grasped full-heartedly as just a concept but is known nonetheless through actual living experience of one's everyday being.

Replaced text is

Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, Tao is the natural order of the universe whose character human intuition must discern in order to realize the potential for individual wisdom. This intuitive knowing of "life" cannot be grasped as just a concept but is known through actual living experience of one's everyday being.

To my mind this at the least requires a citation. The phrase "natural order of the universe" does not occur lower down the article.

Things get worse with this edit [1] where the "natural order" phrase becomes the first definition in the article. Chaging the first sentance from

Tao or Dao is a Chinese word signifying the "way", "path", "route", "road" or sometimes more loosely "doctrine", "principle" or "holistic beliefs".

to

Tao or Dao is the natural order of the universe whose character one's human intuition must discern in order to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other human thought that accords with them on this principle.

I'm no Taoist scholar, but I think the concept of way or path is the primary meaning. I think we might want to change back to an earlier version. --Salix alba (talk): 22:35, 5 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Italics?

I think Tao is a pretty borrowed-into-English word at this point, right? Thus, I don't think it should be italicized as a foreign-ism as per MOS:FOREIGN. Remsense聊 01:13, 11 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Lead section: "being of aliveness"

The lead section (bolding mine):

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

I have no idea what's that supposed to mean or how is that different from "one's being" or "one's aliveness". If you do, please don't explain to me, but instead try to clarify the meaning in the article itself. Thanks so much. The fact that an intricate philosophical concept is explained doesn't mean the explanation should be incomprehensible and elusive. Jack who built the house (talk) 19:45, 21 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tao and Te decoded

Tao: A Mathematical Representation of Tao

Te: The Paradigm of Tao-Based Approaches Exemplified in the Tao Te Ching

The decoding is based on Tao Te Ching (Mawangdui Silk Texts). LiweiZhang2050 (talk) 02:59, 9 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]