Confucianism And Legalism Essay

995 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The influence of confucianism on china

Amongst the pandemonium of relentless sparring and political unpredictability of the Shang and Zhou era, various intellectual thinkers ascended and conveyed such insightful perspectives in the fields of religion, politics and philosophy; the study of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life. During Chinas rise to Empire, Chinese Philosophers like Kongfuzi, or Confucius, Mencius, and Han Fei implemented two prestige philosophies Confucianism and Legalism. Although Confucianism and Legalism approaches bare a couple of distinct similarities, the differences between the philosophies are significantly evident.
The first difference between Confucianism and Legalism is they have completely different beliefs. Based off the teachings of Confucius the Confucianism beliefs were established. The main focus of Confucianism is to instil how to live a harmonious life and adapt socially. Knowledge, humaneness, integrity, righteousness or justice, and etiquette or propriety are the five core virtues that arose from the teachings of Confucianism. The virtues are further instilled in filial piety, contingency, loyalty, and righteousness. Confucianism also communicates that relationships and family are top priorities within one’s lifetime. In contrast to Confucianism, Legalism is a pragmatic political philosophy, and believed using a system of rewards for good citizenship "set clear strict laws, or deliver harsh punishment" for law-breaking citizens, and its essential principle is one of jurisprudence. They believed that human nature is inherently bad, which is why strict laws were needed to keep people under control. This belief about human nature justified dictatorships and authoritarian rulers, which often led to corruption in ...

... middle of paper ...

...he Chinese civilization in to a successful empire.
In China from ca. 770 B.C.E. – 220 C.C, two magnificent philosophies were introduced to the Chinese civilization. Although Confucianism and Legalism philosophy approaches bare a couple of distinct similarities, the differences between the philosophies are significantly evident. Since we have examined the similarities and differences between Confucianism and Legalism. It’s clear that Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system that is normally considered one of the world’s religion. Legalism is a political philosophy that does not address higher questions pertaining to the nature and purpose of existence. Just strict and harsh punishments. Even in our modern day these philosophies are still being practices in the Chinese culture. “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”- Confucius

Show More
Related

  • Antigone And Confucius Essay

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    Confucius was a philosopher, political intellect and an educator whose philosophies have significantly prejudiced not only the Chinese principles but the entire world evolution. He lived through the “Spring” and “Autumn” epoch of Chinese history, when east central China was separated over a dozen fighting states. The inordinate ailment and grief he saw swayed his political thoughts, which highlighted command, grading and the rule of a compassionate self-governing state.

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Religion And Philosophy

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    During and after the Warring States period of Chinese history, many different philosophies were developed. One of these such philosophies is Legalism. In Legalism, people believe that no one can be trusted, and that everyone is selfish and evil. It teaches that the only way to get work done is with strict laws and harsh punishments. On the complete opposite side, in Daoism (a.k.a. Taoism), people believed that you don’t really need much of a government. Even the ruler doesn’t really do anything much. They just let the people live. The entire point of Daoism is to achieve “oneness with the Dao,” which is the path, or road to living in harmony with the world and nature. Another philosophy, Confucianism, is all about living in harmony with other people. It basically teaches you to respect your elders, people with more power than you, and people who have more knowledge and experience than you. By following any one of those philosophies, people try to live a good life by changing their

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Confucianism Daoism And Legalism

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, Confucianism is a system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius. Confucianism was the code of ethics accepted as the certified religion of most of the immense empires in the territory since the Han Dynasty. Confucianism provided an outline of ethical and religious beliefs that most of the Chinese expanded to make other religions such as Daoism and Legalism. To expand, Confucianism was founded by Confucius and his beliefs on the political and social order of China. Confucius believed that everything would fall into place if children had respect for their parents and if the rulers were honest. In Confucianism, specific roles were followed by each person in the family. The head of the family, the father, was the one primarily in control and then it was the oldest son that was next in line. Confucius had the belief that a ruler has to be everything he wants

    Read More

  • Confucianism In The Shang Dynasty

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Respect and education will make the community good, which will eventually lead to expanding the Empire and having more cutting edge ideas. In the other hand, Legalism will only make people have little to no information about how to enhance their environment, and live in the constant fear caused by the rulers brutal ways of dealing with unlawful acts. Though we do not live in a community like this nowadays, it is crucial to notice the way this rationalism works, since it will help create new and revamped forms of government, which will eventually help the human kind move forward. Learning from old mistakes and taking in everything that works can make the world a better place, and Confucianism is a great philosophy apply, develop and learn from since it is not

    Read More

  • The Periods of Success and Decline in the Dynastic Cycle

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    The geneses of the three philosophies were based on the teachings of Confucius, and show how the nature of Chinese history is cyclical. Confucius was born in 551 BCE during the Chao dynasty, about 100 years after a period known as the Warring States. Political unity was unstable during Confucius’ time and consequently, China had broken into small states that were constantly at war with one another. Confucius wanted to solve these political problems and help restore order in his country and therefore created his “school of thought” ...

    Read More

  • Confucianism Vs Daoism Essay

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Confucianism became popular during the Han Dynasty as it was the state religion and had a great impact on East Asia (Confucianism 1, pg. 7). Born in 551 BCE in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Confucius himself absorbed the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha (Confucianism 1, pg. 2) He had a set of virtues that he believed a functioning society should stand by such as benevolence, love and rites. Confucius wanted China to return to the old days when people were loyal to their rulers and rulers were polite and caring towards their people. He believed rulers s...

    Read More

  • The Change of Confucianism over Time

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    Confucianism is a philosophy and way of life formed in China by Confucius, an early Chinese philosopher. It began as a simple concept with ideals of personal virtue, simple filial piety, and basic gender distinctions and social inequalities. But, over time with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism it began to transform into a way of life that was degrading towards women with certain hostilities towards rivaling religions. In its early period, from around 500 B.C.E to the Common Era, Confucianism changed in that it became the leading belief system and a major part of Chinese tradition. From the transition into the Common Era to the end of the Classical time period, Confucianism was altered because of a loss of popularity following the collapse of the Han dynasty and the corruption in the governing political system. In its ending period, the post-classical era, Confucianism underwent perhaps its biggest adjustments with the emergence of Neo-Confucianism. The ideas and virtues presented in the “rebirth of Confucian philosophies” of intolerance of foreign religions and extreme filial piety...

    Read More

  • Legalist Perspective Of Legalism

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is thus rational for us to question the validity of preconditions upon which these ideas were acquired and the legitimacy of the ideas; and later but more importantly, how did the Legalists become the only classical thoughts had its teaching adopted as the sole official doctrine of a regime ruling all China and bring about the unification of China; and lastly, the association of the all-too-soon collapse of the ephemeral Qin Dynasty and the Legalists thoughts.

    Read More

  • Confucianism and Taoism

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.

    Read More

  • Religion In Confucianism And Religion

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    As for country governance, Confucianism addresses something meaningful to change the situation. Instead, Taoism advocated doing nothing and obeying the orders of nature. In ancient Chinese society, the essence of “Dao” in Confucianism includes five factors which are benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, intelligence and honesty (Hoobler & Hoobler, 1993), while “Dao” in Taoist can be embodied as the natural orders and principles of the universe in terms of the heaven and the ground (Wang & Chanzit, 2004). Specific comparing, Confucianism concentrates on hierarchical ethical order, through a series of manners discipline to improve people's moral standards.

    Read More

  • What Are The Difference Between Legalism And Confucianism

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. The warring states of China were united through a combination of philosophical and religious traditions. One of the first answers to the problem was Legalism. Legalism was created by Han Fei, who believed that an empire would only succeed if it imposed strict laws on its people to discourage bad behavior. Legalism quickly fell out of favor after the end of the Qin Dynasty because of its harshness. The successor to the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, adopted Confucianism. Confucianism was not really a religion, but more of a philosophical outlook on life. Filial piety, social harmony, and ethics were now emphasized. The final major school of thought that integrated Chinese culture was Daoism. Daoism was based on the concept of nature, and urged people to "disengage in public life" and to seek out nature instead.

    Read More

  • Confucianism

    562 Words  | 2 Pages

    Confucianism is a moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient writings, including that of Mencius. Confucius was born a mandarin under the name Kongzi. It was developed around 550 B.C. In its earliest form Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical concepts for the control of society. It saw man as a social creature that is bound to his fellow men by jen, or “humanity.” Jen is expressed through the five relationships—sovereign and subject, parent and child, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. Of these, the filial relation is most important.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Confucianism on Chinese Culture

    1731 Words  | 4 Pages

    Confucian culture, also known as Confucianism, was founded by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, which was developed gradually after the Han Dynasty with benevolence as the core. Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was the official ideology and the basis of mainstream ideology in the vast majority of historical periods of China, and it also influenced many southeast Asian countries in history. After a variety of shocks, Confucianism was still the core values of China's social public, and represented the Chinese culture and national tradition in the world (Littlejohn, 2010). In the contemporary society, the Confucian culture in China increasingly spread, at the same time, its modern value is excavated by many countries in the world, and its international influence is also growing with the rise of China.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Confucianism And Taoism

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Confucianism believes that their congregation should have human conduct over the idea of God in their lives, whereas Taoism is formed on the belief that its congregation should create a relationship with nature. This is pointed out by Smith in Experiencing the World 's Religions, “Confucius represents the classical, Lao Tzu the romantic; Confucius stresses social responsibility, Lao Tzu praises spontaneity and naturalness; Confucius focus is on the human, Lao Tzu’s on what transcends the human” (Smith 218). Another difference is Confucianism is based off of respect of others and their superiors, and Confucians are to follow a code of conduct with social harmony as a goal. On the other hand, Taoism is based on the contemplation of life and followers are to seek balance in their lives through following the path or

    Read More

  • A Critique of Confucian Morality

    1609 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many centuries, Confucianism has been widely revered by the Chinese for its emphasis on morality. Confucius, who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, is different to most philosophers in that he showed no interest questioning his existence, the possibility of a God, or the reality that he seemed to live in; instead he focused on the human relations side of philosophy as it was his belief that people should “give (themselves) earnestly to the duties due to men … (and) keep aloof from (spiritual beings)” (Confucius 195). By negating the metaphysical side of philosophy, he was able to devote himself to mold his disciples into ideal gentleman who were morally righteous, and were able to benefit society. He believed in the importance of individuals who knew their roles in an well-structured society, that was a feudal system. In his opinion, the ideal gentleman should be obedient to his elders, have humanness and be morally righteous. Through his teachings, he was able to reform an entire country; the Chinese found Confucianism to embody practices of humaneness that they could apply in their daily lives through his religion.

    Read More

More about Confucianism And Legalism Essay

Open Document