先王之道

the way of former kings

early / prior / former / in advance / first

former kings / former emperors / in Confucian writing, refers esp. to the sage rulers Yao 堯|尧[Yao2], Shun 舜[Shun4], Yu 禹[Yu3], Tang 湯|汤[Tang1] and the kings of Zhou

king or monarch / best or strongest of its type / grand / great

to rule / to reign over

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) / him / her / it

road / path / CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3] / principle / truth / morality / reason / skill / method / Dao (of Daoism) / to say / to speak / to talk / classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process / (old) circuit (administrative division)