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道理

Mandarin · pinyin dào li

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Characters in this entry

道: dào · path, road, street; method, way
理: lǐ · reason, logic; manage

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

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Mandarin tones

4–5 · dao4 li5

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou6 lei5

Cantonese word readings for 道理. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

reason; argument; sense; logic
principle; rule; truth; philosophy
way; plan

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

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