第15次开课

开始:2025-08-25

截止:2026-01-15

课程已进行至

19/21周

成绩预发布时间 2026-01-14

教学团队

四川外国语大学
副教授
四川外国语大学
副教授
四川外国语大学
副教授
四川外国语大学
教授
四川外国语大学
教授
四川外国语大学
讲师
讲师
四川外国语大学
讲师
四川外国语大学
讲师

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视频(28)
考试(25)
文档(3)
讨论(3)

Describe the 'Dao' in one word.

By 张婷 老师 11-30 1669次浏览

Please describe 'Dao' in one word. Also, consider: in what aspects does your chosen word fail to fully express the 'Dao'?
“用一个词描述‘道’。同时思考:你的这个词,在哪些方面无法完全表达‘道’?

312 回复

  • 何玲202319 19天前

    Nature.

    It fails as Dao is both the unnamable source of all things and the ever-flowing way beyond mere spontaneity.

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  • 秦艺16班 19天前

    Principal, but it lacks the meanings of "dynamic vitality" and "individual practice"

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  • 魏卓琳16班 19天前

    eternal

    道家的“道”不仅是宇宙本体,也是人需要践行的处世准则(如“道法自然”的生活方式),而“eternal”仅指向存在的时间属性,完全未涉及“道”的实践与体悟层面。

     

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  • 11班葛萱 19天前

    Ultimacy

    It encapsulates Dao’s essence as the ultimate origin, underlying order, and untranscendable truth of all existence.

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  • 阳欣然16班 19天前

    Word: Elusive
    It reflects that the Dao resists rational understanding and requires intuitive realization. Yet it fails to convey the Dao’s selfless role in nurturing all things, and misrepresents the Dao as something to "seize"—in reality, we align with the Dao, not capture it.

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  • 张雅雯16班 19天前

    harmonious

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  • 杨柳10班 19天前

    Eternal

    Aspects where this word fails to fully express the 'Dao':

    1. Plurality of connotations: The 'Dao' is not only eternal in time but also encompasses multiple meanings such as the origin of the universe, the laws of nature, and the principles of living. Eternal only reflects its temporal characteristic and cannot cover the 'Dao' as the operating law of all things or the wisdom of life.

    2. Dynamic operation: The 'Dao' is constantly moving, changing, and acting on all things. For example, the idea that "the Dao generates one, one generates two, two generates three, and three generates all things" reflects the process of creation and evolution. However, Eternal focuses on "unchanging persistence" and can hardly reflect the dynamic and creative nature of the 'Dao'.

    3. Ineffable and apprehensible nature: Taoism emphasizes that "the Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao". The essence of the 'Dao' transcends verbal description. As a concrete adjective, Eternal cannot convey the transcendent and indescribable mystery of the 'Dao'.

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  • 17班王雨婷 19天前

     Chaos,Chaos only captures the primitive disorder of Dao, but cannot express its inherent order, life-giving power and guiding significance, failing to fully convey Dao’s essence.

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  • 19班徐梓涵 19天前

    Unfathomable.It only captures the incomprehensibility of Dao, but Dao is also the source of all existence and the natural order that governs all things—this word ignores its creative and regulative properties.

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  • 11班彭情兰 19天前

    我觉得 way  在某些方面,例如“方式”、“方法”可以等同于“道”,但当“道”在特殊语境之中,如“道之道非常道”……way就很难表述这种“规律”

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  • 董长烽18班 19天前

    natural

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  • 17班郗洪锐 19天前

    Inclusive,but this word didn't describe its accurate inner meanings.

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  • 成悦宏9班 19天前

    regularity. It lacks of creativity.

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  • 田粒17班 19天前

    origin

    in the aspects of dynamic, law-like nature

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  • 寿书漫9班 19天前

    Change.But this word falls short because Dao is also silent, constant, and beyond mere process.

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  • 阙浩艺 19天前

    As a mere transliteration, the static noun Tao fails to embody the multi-layered meanings, dynamic essence, and profound cultural connotations inherent in the Chinese concept of Dao.

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  • 6AJPVM2o 19天前

    insightful

    aspect: dynamic change

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  • 吴金阳 19天前

    Compassionate,Unable to show the spirit of unity of heaven and man

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  • 张若涵17班 19天前

    "Inexpressible" only highlights the difficulty of verbal description, ignoring its creative and vital nature.Lacks the sense of "generative power":

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  • 唐诗10班 19天前

    inclusive

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  • 陈蒙星19班 19天前

    spontaneous. It sometimes describes the compulsion for self.

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  • 吴涵茹9班 19天前

    Order  Ignores the ineffable and transcendental nature

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  • 王金媛11班 19天前

    Eternal

    "Eternal" only reflects Dao's timelessness, not its dynamic

    creativity, multifaceted essence

    as origin, law and moral guide, ineffability beyond words, or immanence in all things.

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  • 17班李杰 19天前

    I choose unfathomable to describe ‘Dao’.

    Unfathomable only highlights the incomprehensibility of the Dao, but the Dao is also the source of all things and the natural order that governs the universe. This word doesn’t convey the Dao’s creative, life-giving nature or its role in guiding all beings to follow their innate essence.

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  • 唐媛媛11班 19天前

    Word: Essence 
    Limitations: ① It is prone to lead people to mistake Dao for the essence of specific things, neglecting its transcendent nature beyond all things; ② It fails to convey Dao's generative power of ceaselessly creating and nurturing all things.

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  • 胡雅婷18班 19天前

    Tao

    "Tao" is an empty vessel—a sound without inherent meaning. It offers no conceptual foothold. A listener unfamiliar with the philosophy hears only an exotic proper noun, severed from all connotations of "path," "principle," "source," or "process."

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  • 何嘉轩11班 19天前

    1.Misses "immanence": Tao is both beyond and within all things; Transcendence only focuses on "beyond."

    2. Lacks dynamism: Tao creates/nurtures all things; Transcendence is a static "above-all" state.

    3. Too narrow: Tao covers philosophy, ethics, and daily life; Transcendence is mostly spiritual.

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  • 涂维18班 19天前

    Unfathomable.

    Its limitations:1. Ignores Dao’s immanence (it’s the real order of all things, not just abstract mystery).2. Misses Dao’s generativity (it actively gives birth to and guides all, not just statically ungraspable).

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  • 冉诗音9班 19天前

    "Way" points a direction, but Dao is the origin, the process, and the destination all at once.

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  • 施婷婷18班 19天前

    Harmony

    It fails to fully express Dao’s dynamism and its transcendence beyond tangible balance.

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