管道
guǎndào · HSK 6
pipeline
🔧 管 guǎn = tube/pipe + 道 dào = way/path → a tube-way, a pipeline
The first character 管 means tube or pipe (also to manage). The second 道 means road or way. Together they literally form tube-road: a physical pipeline or a metaphorical channel for things to flow through.
管 — bamboo radical 竹 + official 官 (phonetic)
Originally a pictograph of a bamboo tube or pipe, written with the bamboo radical 竹 on top. The lower component 官 supplies the sound. From 'bamboo pipe' it extended to 'tube,' then to 'manage' or 'control' — since pipes channel and regulate flow, the meaning shifted toward administration.
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.