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白道

Mandarin · pinyin bái dào

(astronomy) the moon's path around the earth
legitimate, lawful activities (contrasted with 黑道 hēi dào)
law-abiding citizenry

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Characters in this entry

白: bái · white; pure, unblemished; bright
道: dào · path, road, street; method, way

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–4 · bai2 dao4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 6 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

orbit of the Moon, or the apparent path of the Moon in the sky; lunar orbit
(literary) wide road
(literary) gap; space
(figurative) legitimate way or organization; circle of officials

verb

(literary) to explain reasons

name

(historical) a place in modern Hohhot

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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