吾道一以贯之

吾道一以貫之

wú dào yī yǐ guàn zhī

quotation

Meanings

1 my Way is threaded through by a single principle
2 one unifying thread runs through my entire teaching
3 lit. my Way — with one, I thread it through

Characters

I, my (classical)

the Way, teaching

with, by means of

to thread through

(classical object pronoun) it

Examples

这位学者研究五十年，吾道一以贯之，始终围绕一个主题。

Zhèwèi xuézhě yánjiū wǔshí nián, wúdào yīyǐguànzhī, shǐzhōng wéirào yīgè zhǔtí.

This scholar has researched for fifty years — his Way is threaded by one principle, always circling one theme.

公司文化变了许多次，但服务客户的核心吾道一以贯之。

Gōngsī wénhuà biàn le xǔduō cì, dàn fúwù kèhù de héxīn wúdào yīyǐguànzhī.

The company culture has changed many times, but the core of serving customers has been a single thread throughout.

Tips

history

From 《论语·里仁》 (Analects, Book 4): Confucius said 参乎！吾道一以贯之 — 'Shen! My Way is threaded through by a single principle.' When asked by others, Zengzi (曾子) explained it as 夫子之道，忠恕而已矣 ('the Master's Way is nothing but loyalty and empathy'). One of the most important hermeneutic keys to the Analects.

usage

In modern Chinese 一以贯之 (without 吾道) is a standalone 4-character idiom meaning 'consistent throughout; sticking to one principle from start to end'.

Stroke Order

吾 wú

道 dào

一 yī

以 yǐ

贯 guàn

之 zhī