知道
zhī dào · HSK 1
to know
💡 知 = arrow + mouth (speak swiftly = know); 道 = the way
知 combines 矢 (arrow) and 口 (mouth) — speaking as swiftly as an arrow flies implies knowledge. 道 means way or path. Together: to know the way, i.e. to know.
道 — 辶 (walk) + 首 (head)
Originally a compound of 辶 'walk/movement' and 首 'head', depicting a path one walks while looking ahead. The literal sense 'road, way' extended metaphorically to 'method, doctrine, the Way (Dao)'. This philosophical meaning became central in Daoist and Confucian thought.