 English speakers continue to debate the preferred romanization of the words " Daoism " and " Taoism " . The root Chinese word 道 " way , path " is romanized tao in the older Wade – Giles system and dào in the modern Pinyin system . In linguistic terminology , English Taoism / Daoism is formed from the Chinese loanword tao / dao 道 " way ; route ; principle " and the native suffix -ism . The debate over Taoism vs. Daoism involves sinology , phonemes , loanwords , and politics – not to mention whether Taoism should be pronounced / ˈtaʊ.ɪzəm / or / ˈdaʊ.ɪzəm / . 
