The political philosophy of Legalism is the sternest, most regimented of all Chinese philosophies due to its advocation of strict legal control over all activities, an absolute monarchy, and an unvarying system of punishments and rewards for all social classes. Han Fei Tzu is the most famous of the Chinese Legalists, as he brought the ideas of his predecessors together into a single, cogent ideology. His writings emphasize that the best way to maintain social order is through the usage of harsh penalties for insubordinate behaviors regarding civil laws. Any individual who disobeys civil authority must be administered a severe punishment in order to preserve social stability. In Legalism, structure is essential because “laws are the means …show more content…
Both are philosophies that are implemented to guide people through their lives. These two schools of thought were created during tumultuous times in ancient China, which provided people with something to focus on, instead of the political unrest and confusion. Also, Taoism and Legalism both demanded respect, although it was directed towards different aspects of life. Taoism focused on respect of nature and life while Legalism focused on respect of an absolute ruler. Though the respect was aimed at two very separate parts of life, it was fundamental for followers of both philosophies. This is similar with achieving Goodness in both Legalism and Taoism. In Taoism, goodness is achieved by following the path of nature and in Legalism, goodness is achieved when an absolute ruler is able to control the entire population. In essence, the goals of the philosophies are extremely contrasted, yet there is overlap in some rudimentary …show more content…
In Taoism, all living beings are viewed as equal, which opposes the hierarchical views and the five essential relationships that a Confucian must follow. One philosophy places strong importance on nature, and the other places it on culture. Confucianism revolved around a culture which was built by a society that valued human life in a particular order, and more so than all other living creatures. Taoism viewed nature as an escape from the tempestuous reality created by humans. Lao Tzu describes “the myriad creatures all rise together and I watch their return. The teaming creatures all return to their separate roots. Returning to one’s roots is known as stillness. This is what is meant by returning to one’s destiny” (XVI). Nature has an essence of tranquility and stillness that Lao Tzu writes about often. In Taoism, all animals, including humans, are equal in nature and returning to nature is a human’s way to reconnect with simplicity and live through the volatile
Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence, many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. From philosophical ideas different beliefs sprung, and existence of different religions followed. Every theory raised by a philosopher attracted different followers. In today's modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their "way". One of these religions is the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of Taoism Lao-Tse was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted his society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching. Lao-Tse described Taoism as a path or a way which one must follow in order to reach inner serenity and peace. In order to reach these inner goals one must live in harmony with nature and natural process that creates the balance in the universe.
There are many Chinese Philosophies within the world, including Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, in which they have all originated as a result of the collapse of the Zhou dynasty in China, however, they do not all have the same beliefs.
They also placed great importance on rituals and other traditions. Many practices continued throughout generations. Legalism believed that such aspects should have no role in the government. According to them, a strong rule with a strict hand was necessary in order to keep the citizens from growing lazy and disrespecting the authority. Out of the three different thought systems, Legalism was a success in the sense that it achieved what the other two systems desperately strove for - the unification of China.
Proper Order in Confucianism and as taught primarily by Mencius, the Chinese philosopher, is the conceptual theory that instructs how people can reach their highest potential of moral and material well being embodied in Mencius' conception of human nature. The theory of proper order is the primary and philosophical means to that end. Although proper order may seem in many ways philosophically abstract, Mencius' teachings of proper order in history have had lasting and tangible effects on modern East Asian politics and its relationship between the state and society, and even on a narrower level of the individual and community. In fact, the theory of proper order starts first at the individual level and from there flourishes to create a positive rippling effect throughout all of society. This profound theory and its ideals is credited with developing a social society in East Asia which acknowledges the great potential of each of its citizens, but still aspires to consider the effects of individual actions on the common good and not to just ignore the interests of society as a whole. This has helped guide East Asia through its long and colorful history and has helped to shape it into the political and economic powerhouse that it is today. But where exactly did such a significant theory which has helped to define an entire society come from? What exactly is proper order, how can we create it, and why is it needed to achieve Mencius' human nature? Most of these questions can be answered in explaining the fundamental virtue that all humans have according to Mencius, our humaneness defined in human nature.
Lao Tzu believed that Tao is a natural thing. He believes that you come by it or you realize its presents and experience it. The best way for me to explain how Lao Tzu perceives the Tao is to take it directly from our reading in Molloy, “The Doa cannot be named because it has no form. But the Dao can be experienced and followed by every individual thing that has a name (213).” Lao Tzu used Tao as a way of being and living in harmony with nature. Lao Tzu believed that Tao came to you by using his teaching of Wu Wei, Simplicity, Gentleness and Relativity (217-218).
...may be similar to the other. These two have the same goal in moving away from selfishness instead be a part of a whole to be a productive citizen. Both are endeavoring to find harmony although in a different way. Taoism achieves it by going with the natural flow of things while Confucianism does it by finding solutions in a more active way. Confucius once said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated,” it was the people way of thinking that they experience complications because they do not get satisfied. People attempt to ask for more after getting what they want. It is in this way that Taoism wants its believers to detach themselves from worldly things so they will have harmony. The two philosophies might be different in some ways but executing some of their values and teachings will be a better way to achieve harmony and contentment in life.
In its second sense, Tao means "the way of the universe." Tao is something that goes through all beings, all of the earth. It is everywhere, all the time. It is something that flows through everything. This flowing idea links with the idea in Buddhism that Nirvana can be reached by anyone, as long as one is devoted enough and has lost all attachments.Thirdly, one life must be a certain way to work with the Tao: Tao also refers to "the way of human life" as it "meshes" with the universal Tao in its second sense.
The characteristic of Taoism is Taoism “does not exist in isolation: it shares the religious commons with a secular Confucianism, a devoutly committed Buddhism” (Oxtoby and Segal, 2013). In general, Taoism, Taoist collective practices, such as ritual, exercise, meditation, facilitates collective action for religion and politics. By using their books and rituals, local religious institutions began to create their political power and political issues. Local institutions are where their collective action began, and they are the place to establish the religious power. Specifically, the Celestial Masters and Yellow Kerchiefs are two main local institutions. The Celestial is the orthodox unity, which highlighted inner alchemy, emphasizing social stability. For the social stability, the orthodox unity focused on purification (Zhai) and renewal (Jiao) (Oxtoby and Segal, 2013). Oh the other hand, Yellow Kerchiefs is close to philosophy teaching, claiming inward training and long life. Eventually the Celestial Masters had the power over Yellow Kerchiefs during the Han period. It is because the Orthodox Unity operated “as a kind of celestial bureaucracy to whom believers could present their appeals just as they did to state bureaucrats in ordinary life” (Oxtoby and Segal, 2013). They established “a new relationship between the gods and humans”. The new relationship means that operations as a kind of celestial bureaucracy to whom believers could present their appeals just as they did to state bureaucrats in ordinary life” (Oxtoby and Segal, 2013). As the religion and as the priest, they engaged themselves in the mundane life, the state. It is the opposite direction with the local Hindu institutions. The religion passed over the authority to the state. The sacred empowered the mundane. In this way, “the
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like” (Lau Tzu). Born into a life of noodles and relaxation Po, a chubby panda, always wanted to be a Kung Fu master. Out of nowhere an opportunity arises to have his dream become reality. Po, like any normal panda snatches up this once in a lifetime opportunity and runs with it. But when the going gets tough, he doesn’t know if this is the life he was meant to live. While the film was meant for enjoyment, DreamWorks has incorporated clear examples of the three major Chinese Schools of Thought: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
There is a similar bond between the Confucians and the Tao in the category rules and behavior. They both believe that you must act accordingly in some way. These two are different also in the sense that Tao believe the life is to be lived according to the Tao and Confucians believe to live it according to actions. Also, the Confucians believed you need to understand the relationship with family, and to follow the five goals of Confucianism. The Buddhists had a totally different idea for this though; they believe that you just need to follow behavior in the ways of the eightfold path and the nine precepts.
Legalism was created in 250 BCE by the famous Chinese philosopher Han Feizi. Legalism promoted recruitment, so rulers had to be strict, which would cause all people to "accept" each other, because the ruler was the ruler, nothing could change from what he said. The advantage to this, is that it would cause little conflict between the people. It also supported war society, because in this belief, the warriors had to be dedicated, for the people to feel more safe and thought about. The old rules of chivalry which Chinese armies had always considered were ignored by the Qin as they crushed one state after another. This would affect the ruling of
Even though Taoism and many other folk religions have shaped the Chinese mind, Confucianism remains, by any historical measure, its chief mentor” (Novak 113). Therefore, since the two religions grew up together, there are similarities, such as their views on humans, attempting to find harmony in life and in nature, and serve as guides for their followers through self-cultivation and improvement techniques. 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).
Reading through these materials, both differ in a most significant manner. Taoism talks more about exploring one's mind; an essence. The ability to trust, be less judgmental, isolate conflict or anger in any relationship, and kindness to oneself. Whereas Confucianism speaks of being responsible, acquire good leadership skills, respect higher bodies such as the government, obligation to cultural identity and to live a better life.
Taoism is a universal law of nature based on the belief that humans should be in harmony with patterns of nature. Thus, each individual creates his or her unique pattern and acts according to it. What if it comes to the disagreement, how it can be handled within or without norms of morality? The Taoism approach to ethics is quite unique saying there are no rules and each individual is free to act as he/she wants.
Lao-Tze founded Taoism around 550 BC. The goal in Taoism is achieve Inner harmony, pea...