Three Chinese Philosophies Of Confucianism

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that extended from the Mediterranean to China. These trade routes nurtured the spread in religion, diseases, wealth, culture, and products. Buddhism became the dominant faith

The “common people” or lower class were able to live off farming and making tools while at the same time, students were in school learning about the laws and prohibition, otherwise known as restrictions or the concept of legalism. Legalism was another way of controlling the behavior of the people in which, “the Legalists advocated for a government that handed out strict punishments and rewards for specific behaviors. They stressed the direction of all human activity toward the goal of increasing the power of the ruler and the state” as stated in “ Legalism” written by the editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. The political theory of Legalism stated that the only way to achieve social harmony was “through strict laws, a strong central control and absolute obedience to authority”. This contributed to the unification of China by Shi Huangdi because by enforcing legalism he was able to punish any enemies like the scholars who read and learned from the old books of Qin, preventing them from corrupting his people, and reward those who follow his strict laws which helped him consolidate his power and maintain his centralized

During the fall of the Zhou Dynasty, violence and chaos were soaring in China. In an attempt to achieve justice, various philosophers offered solutions in order to restore social and political order. From these efforts, three significant ethical systems were founded. These three major schools of philosophy, Legalism, Confucianism, and Daoism, are creations of unique views that portray their ideas of adequate societies as well as their perspectives on how one should govern.

One morning a band of three brothers awaken from a night of mischievous activities, but only two stand up to find the last’ clothes on the ground with their owner nowhere in sight. They then see movement from the shirt moving up to the neck, then a frog appears in place of the last brother’s body! This occurred after the day the brothers were entranced by three sirens. Similar to Homer’s “The Odyssey,” “O Brother Where Art Thou” has many events that relate the Odysseus and his adventure.

Legalists are in favor of an authoritarian state that is ruled by force. It claims that the supreme ruler is much more important than the ruled and that individuals must conform to standards of the authority. During the Qin Dynasty, which ruled China from 221 B.C.E. to 207 B.C.E, Qin Shi Huangdi was able to unite China after the Warring States Period by adopting legalism as a ruling philosophy. “Qin Shi Huangdi was a brutal ruler of China, but effective

Han Fei mentions, (Doc 4), how people would not know how to run a government, saying how people are ignorant if they believe governing should be about the approval of people. By saying this, he feels like that ideology is the reason why those people can not find a major role. Han Fei also mentions, (Doc 5), that legalism was established for the purpose to make sure that everyone would take the brunt of their punishment, even if they are in a higher social group, and anyone can get their rewards as low as the commoners. By having this with them, it established how the government would have harsh but fair laws that would affect

During the Warring Sates Period there were three main philosophies in china, that influenced their actions and way of thinking. The three perspectives were Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism. For each there was a social thoughts, political thoughts, ethical teachings, and a way of public life. These three philosophies where created because of the political fragmentation. (McKay,Pg.70)

Legalism is an ancient Chinese philosophy of administration that believes that humans are more inclined to do wrong than right because they are motivated entirely by self-interest. Shi Huangdi was the founder of the Qin dynasty. After conquering the seven kingdoms in ancient China, he halted the Warring States Period and took the throne as the first emperor of the unified Chinese nation. He ruled on the basis of Legalism. To prevent criticism of his rule, Shi Huangdi ordered that all books that seemed to be useless or against him be burned. This included all poetry from the Chou dynasty and all books written by Confucian scholars. The only books from previous eras that Shi Huangdi let off were the practical ones about medicine and farming. Focusing on the issue of media censorship, the current Chinese government governs in a similar way to the way Qin Shi Huangdi once governed. China still blocks and monitor citizens access to several social media services and shuts down media entertainment programs during government events. While some may see this as an extreme form of censorship, we must consider the fact that several other countries have similar policies in place.

In ancient China, many different rulers tried to unify and rule the country using a variety of methods – Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism to name a few. Each philosophy had its own set of rules of how people should act both in public and privately. The overall goal of each philosophy was to set a standard of acceptable living that would ensure harmony and success for the society. However, each was different and thus had different results. The best way for the people of China to succeed in a harmonious, respectable society occurred when both Confucianism and Legalism were combined.

In China during 406-221 BCE, the battling states between the Zhou and the Han Dynasties? were in a state of governmental disorder. Although the era was in a disruptive state, it ushered in a cultural opening that left a long lasting imprint on the Chinese history. As a result, three major belief systems surfaced Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism in an attempt to achieve a sense of political order in a disorder period. There are distinctions in the way each of the belief systems approached the many problems that plagued the Chinese society. First, all of the founders were contemporaries in China. As well as considered philosophies, who studied the future, and sat out to focus on the present rather than the past. In contrast, Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism established various paths in search of an optimistic future for the success of China. Second, both Legalism and Confucianism developed a social belief system, but are considered a religion. However, both Legalism and Confucianism purpose was to create an orderly society in the hopes of prosperity. In contrast, Daoism does

Legalism was very different from both Confucianism and Daoism because Legalism was the belief that people needed to be controlled because they were evil. Legalism is found in China and was founded by Han Feize. While it is unknown when Legalism was established, it is known that Han Feize was born in 280 B.C. so that gives a general time when legalism started. Legalism didn’t deal with much religious concerns but was more of a political philosophy instead. Citizens were seen to be responsible for actions of one another. A person who is considered guilty, their relatives and neighbors should be punished as well. This was a way to make sure that the laws are followed. The laws are strict with harsh punishments. People who spy on others and report anything that they do wrong to the authorities are thought to be doing right of the law. Both Legalism and Confucianism are belief systems within a group of people, not religions, and both are intended to lead to an orderly way of life, how they approach their teachings are complete opposed.

Confucianism has easily been influential in the development of the Chinese state through history. In fact, the core ideals of Confucianism have evolved. Despite the harsh repression of Confucianism by Marxist revolutionaries during the second half of the twentieth century, Confucian values continues to be influential in Chinese society and recently, Confucian political philosophy has resurfaced again. In addition, the political ideas and social ethics of Confucianism can provide the basis for a new, functional form of government in China. Confucianism can be a viable political philosophy for China in the twenty first century because many intellectuals have turned to Confucianism to make sense of such social

The Silk Road was an intricate and evolving network of overland trade routes that linked China, India, and western Eurasia for centuries. The trade route was key to the diffusion and transportation of technology, goods, religions, and language throughout Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa and southern Europe. As the strongest link between major population centers in the largest landmass on earth, the Silk Road was one of the most important of all long-distance trade routes in human history.

Thank you for sharing your story Anastasia! If you think you are the only one experiencing that, you are not alone, we have also felt that stress way us down, but we should never let it control us or affect us over a long period of time. Ways you can overcome stress is to be more on top of things, no procrastination and no distractions, I know it can be really hard, but once you do those things, almost all your stress will disappear. Trust me. It's nice that you know which classes are your weaknesses and strengths which can help you to know which areas you need to improve on.

Three areas of philosophy emerged amidst the chaos and constant warring of the Zhou era. The three were called Confucianism, Daoism, and legalism. They were Chinese philosophies that were thought to be the best ways to rule and achieve order in the society. Confucianism believed that a ruler 's job was to set a good example, and not order. Since people were thought of as naturally good, they would following the right path based on their own conscience. Legalism was a more harsh way of ruling, led by Hanfeizi. They thought people were evil, and needed strict laws and punishment to keep them in line. Daoism was very different from either of the other two. It was led by Laozi, who taught that the best kind of government was one who governed