In Taoist thought, the Tao is the way the whole universe naturally works — the force or path that everything follows without being told to. Water runs downhill, plants grow toward light, night follows day: none of these are trying, they are just going the way things go. That going-the-way-things-go is the Tao.

In Taoist thought在道家思想裡，the Tao is the way the whole universe naturally worksTao指的是整個宇宙自然運行的方式— the force or path that everything follows without being told to，——萬物不需要被告知，就會自然遵循的那股力量或路徑。Water runs downhill, plants grow toward light, night follows day水往低處流、植物朝光的方向長、夜晚接著白天：none of these are trying, they are just going the way things go，這些都不是刻意努力，只是順著事情本來的樣子走。That going-the-way-things-go is the Tao這種「順著事情本來的樣子走」，就是Tao。

English borrowed the word from Chinese because there was no English word for it; you will also see it spelled 'Dao', which is the newer and closer spelling of the same Chinese word 道 — same idea, two spellings, and books published before about 1980 usually use 'Tao'. Note that the famous opening of the 道德經 says the Tao cannot really be named, so writers in English often keep the word vague on purpose rather than defining it tightly; when you meet it, the writer usually means 'the natural order of everything, which you can follow but cannot control'.

English borrowed the word from Chinese because there was no English word for it英文把這個字從中文借過來，因為英文裡沒有對應的字you will also see it spelled 'Dao', which is the newer and closer spelling of the same Chinese word 道；你也會看到拼成'Dao'的寫法，這是同一個中文字「道」比較新、也比較貼近原音的拼法same idea, two spellings, and books published before about 1980 usually use 'Tao'——同一個概念，兩種拼法，大約1980年以前出版的書通常用'Tao'。Note that the famous opening of the 道德經 says the Tao cannot really be named要注意，《道德經》那句有名的開頭說Tao其實無法真正被命名so writers in English often keep the word vague on purpose rather than defining it tightly，所以英文作者常常故意把這個字寫得模糊，而不去嚴格定義它when you meet it, the writer usually means 'the natural order of everything, which you can follow but cannot control'；當你遇到這個字時，作者通常是指「萬物自然的秩序，你可以順從它，但無法控制它」。

Outside religious and philosophy books, English speakers also use it loosely and half-jokingly in book titles — 'the Tao of X' means 'the natural, unforced way of doing X', as in 'The Tao of Pooh'. That loose use is common enough that many English speakers meet the word first as a joke and only later as a serious idea.

Outside religious and philosophy books, English speakers also use it loosely and half-jokingly in book titles在宗教和哲學書籍之外，英語使用者也會在書名裡半開玩笑地、比較隨性地用這個字'the Tao of X' means 'the natural, unforced way of doing X', as in 'The Tao of Pooh'——'the Tao of X'的意思是「做X這件事自然、不勉強的方式」，例如'The Tao of Pooh'（《小熊維尼的道》）。That loose use is common enough that many English speakers meet the word first as a joke and only later as a serious idea這種隨性的用法很常見，常見到很多英語使用者第一次接觸到這個字是當成玩笑，後來才把它當成一個嚴肅的概念。

Capitalised, and used with 'the'.

Capitalised字首要大寫and used with 'the'，而且前面會加'the'。