道是天地万物的演化运行机制，中国哲学的信念之一。 认为道决定了事物“有”或“无”[2]、以及生物“生”或“死”的存在形式；[3] 从无到有、从有到无和周而复始的自然现象，是万事万物在道协同作用下所产生的结果； [4]“人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然”的理念[5] 有兩種解釋，主流是當時的「自然（itself）」不是今日的「自然（Nature）」，而是「自然而然」“道”雖是生長萬物的，卻是無目的、無意識的，它“生而不有，為而不恃，長而不宰”，即不把萬物據為己有，不夸耀自己的功勞，不主宰和支配萬物，而是聽任萬物自然而然發展著。疑後代禪宗則解釋為「道」效法「自然」（今日用語），應為誤解。[原創研究？]
另一种解释，坚信人受地的制约、地受天的制约、天受道的制约，道受自然的制约[8]；奉行顺其自然，无为而治的价值观[9]。
Tao is the evolutionary mechanism of heaven and earth, and one of the beliefs of Chinese philosophy. It is believed that the Tao determines the “being” or “non-existence” of things and the form of existence in which living beings “live” or “die”; The natural phenomenon of coming into being, from being to nothing, and repeating itself is the result of the synergy of all things in the Tao; [4] There are two interpretations of the concept of “man is the law of the earth, the earth is the law of the sky, the heaven is the law of the Tao, and the Tao is the law of nature” There are two interpretations, the mainstream is that “nature” at that time is not “nature” today, but “natural”, although the “Tao” is the one that gives birth to all things, but it is purposeless and unconscious, it is “born without being, for the sake of not being ashamed, and growing without slaughter”, that is, it does not take all things as its own, does not boast of its own merits, does not dominate and dominate all things, but allows all things to develop naturally. It is doubtful that the later generations of Zen Buddhism interpreted it as “Tao” and imitated “nature” (in today’s terms), which should be misunderstood.
Another explanation is the belief that man is conditioned by the earth, the earth is conditioned by heaven, the heavens are conditioned by the Tao, and the Tao is conditioned by nature[8]; Pursue the values of going with the flow and doing nothing .