Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion, a tradition, or a way of life in the religious or philosophical spheres of life. The literal meaning of the word Tao is path or way, and it is found in many other Chinese texts and is not restricted to Taoism. There are millions of people practicing Taoism in many countries, including Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, and even Vietnam. In the western world, another concept of Daoism is prevalent. Many people believe that Daoism and Taoism are two different religions. This article attempts to determine if there is any difference between these two words or if they refer to the same ancient Chinese religion or practice.
Whether Tao or Dao, the two words mean the same in Chinese characters. Of the words Taoism and Daoism, Taoism is older, having been coined by early western traders who reached China to refer to an ancient Chinese way of living. They tried to sound as close to the Chinese to speak the old Chinese religion, and Taoism is the closest they came to the word. Taoism is the Romanization of a Chinese word for the ancient religion and philosophy. This Romanization is based on the Wade-Giles system.
However, in 1958, the Chinese government started to prefer another Romanization system called Pinyin. In this system, Romanization of the word used by Chinese people to refer to the ancient Chinese religion or philosophy is Daoism. The Chinese government believes that this system of Romanization converts Chinese words into English in a much better and more consistent manner than the older Wade-Giles system.
Key Takeaways
- There is essentially no difference between the words Taoism and Daoism, and both represent the same age-old Chinese religious philosophy.
- Taoism is a Romanization that uses the older Wade-Giles system, while Daoism is a result of the Romanization based on Pinyin, the modern Romanization system adopted by the Chinese government.
- While the western world is still comfortable with Taoism, Daoism is the pronunciation preferred by official Chinese texts as authorities believe that Pinyin represents Chinese words phonetically much better than the Wade-Giles Romanization system.
