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Confucius
Confucius Confucius, illustration in E.T.C. Werner's Myths and Legends of China, 1922.

Dao

Chinese philosophy
Also known as: tao
Written by
Matt Stefon
Matt Stefon was a religion editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. He earned B.A. degrees in English and American studies from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in religion and literature and an...
Matt Stefon
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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β€’History

Dao, the fundamental concept of Chinese philosophy. Articulated in the classical thought of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bce), dao exerted considerable influence over subsequent intellectual developments in China. The word for this concept, dao, indicates a β€œway” in the sense of a road or a path. Owing to the contextual nature of Chinese languages and depending upon its use in a sentence, dao can function as...

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