Jerress C. Askew
Professor Nicole Ennis
History of World Civilization 1
January 27, 2018
Compare and Contrast the Origins of Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism With the birth of their civilization, the ancient Chinese wanted to know what role human beings played within society and the universe as a whole? This question and many others help develop the “hundred schools” of ancient philosophy. In the beginning of Chinese civilization, they believed that the universe comprised of two primary energies, good and evil, light and dark, male and female. In other words, everything had an opposite and finding the balance would lead to a prosperous life and ultimately a prosperous society. Three “schools of thought” were born to figure out this balance. Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. Although, each are different in their beliefs, they each had the common goal of wanting to achieve harmony in their society and the universe.
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Daoism believed it was impossible to figure out the universe, so in essence, going with the flow was ideal. Instead of focusing on one’s duty and action, it focused on letting nature take its course as a way of providing universal harmony. They This gave individualist more power to control their own realities, therefore creating universal harmony. Whereas, Legalism focused on the fact that strict laws that if broken, were punishable, would create proper behavior, Daoism’s belief is if one experiences good, it now has knowledge of what isn’t good or evil and again would act accordingly. Popular Daoism became more religious based with the practice of rituals to obtain heavenly rewards. Daoist sorcerers would even perform rituals to give an individual mind power to achieve power, long life, a good sex life, and ultimately heavenly
On the other hand, Daoism prioritizes the significance of the spirit world and supernaturalism. Moreover, Gulik suggests the idea that even though all three religions prioritize different beliefs, they are able to tolerate one another in Chinese society. The monastery is combined of all three religions and despite the fact that each one is distinct, they continue to act civil towards one another. This idea is clearly demonstrated during the interactions between Judge Dee and Master Sun who disagree with one another’s religion, but are still able to have a friendly conversation. The contrasting lifestyles of the three religions are also portrayed during dinner in which Judge Dee’s choice of food is extremely different from the Daoist’s.
Although there are many of similarities between Daoism and Buddhism, there are also several contrasting reasons that the philosophy Daoism believed that everyday life could be peaceful and happiness, but they must follow the way of Dao and the way of nature. If they break the rules, they will not receive peace and harmony. Nevertheless, Buddhism is an idealism and they believed that we can rebirth. Everyone had to pay for their action. If a man did a bad action in his life, he must need to experience some pains before he could receive Enlightment.
These three passages selected from the Daodejing are good representative of the three core ideas of Daoism—the Dao, wuwei, and yin and yang. The first passage (1.) writes about the Dao, also known as the Way. The Dao is the source of everything in the universe, the power or force that sustains the natural order of
Three perspectives of bringing peace to society was Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. In people’s lives peace in society is very important. People were longing for no violence and expected to be treated well. They wanted to feel comfortable and stable. Because they were searching for peace and order, they wanted rules to be enforced.
Daoism and Confucianism are very different philosophies. The thought of the two ruling together is very hard and unrealistic to imagine, but not impossible. Both believe in very basic morals such as, not stealing, cheating, lying, or killing. They also believe in treating people well. Daoism strongly believes every living thing including bugs are equal.
Compare and contrast the roles of Confucianism and Buddhism in both China and Korea until roughly the 7th century Introduction East Asia is the largest emerging economy of the world at present, and this phenomenon can be traced back to its cultural, demographic, political and social traditions and identities. Yang and Tamney (2011) said religion was an integral part of cultural which played an extremely great role in enriching people’s spiritual life, guiding people to do good (p.132), and strengthening the state authority and legitimating their rule by instilling people with the politics-oriented beliefs from the perspective of the ruling class. Confucianism and Buddhism played a dominant role in the feudal society in both China and Korea and they exerted far-reaching impacts on both countries until today. As religion, both Confucianism and Buddhism served similar purposes in maintaining the social orderliness and stability, despite the differences between them in the religions beliefs and their impacts. In this paper, the roles of two mainstream religions, Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) and Buddhism in China and Korea until roughly the 7th century are compared and contrasted in various aspects.
Confucianism enforced harmony, between people while legalism enforced strict following of rules. For confucianism was built on the belief that harmony results when people in society accepted their place in their lives. However, Legalism was built on the fact that all humans are more inclined to do the wrong thing instead of the right thing due to the motivation of self-interest. Confucianism is described through the five key relationships: father to son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, elder friend to younger friend, and ruler to subject. But legalism was described
In his most famous publication, Weber studies the relationship between the ethics of ascetic Protestantism and the emergence of contemporary capitalism. He accounts bureaucracy as a key feature in modern society. This is in no way a detailed account of Protestantism itself but instead an introduction to his later studies such as “The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism” or “The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism”. Weber argues that the “spirit” that defines capitalist ideas originates in the Protestant Reformation.
The most prominent religions, mentalities, and ways of life in China, also known as “The Three Teachings”, can easily be distinguished at first glance. Confucianism aims to create harmony in society with its followers. Daoism's goal is to release the practicer from society's chains and align one's life with the natural order of life. Zen Buddhism focuses on freeing oneself from all societal and natural structures to reach enlightenment. Despite these differences, there are aspects in each ideology that are remarkably similar.
Introduction Daoism and Buddhism are two different religions that guide people how to live a good life. They also teach the important values of life to people. They have similar beliefs as both of them believe in the life after death and cycle of life never end. However, Daoism and Buddhism have different views and beliefs about the life after death. In Buddhism, it aims to obtain the enlightenment and releases from the cycle of rebirth and death.
Daoism was founded by Laozi and the rules were achieve oneness with the Dao, see yourself as a part of nature, live in harmony with nature, you don’t need laws, and leaders should be good. Also there was a feudal system which was like a social class for the Chinese where people were ranked. All of these three philosophies but they all affect life in
The Tao is not a thing and it is not seen like a God because it is not worshipped, it is more of a system of guidance. It is best described as “developing oneself so as to live in complete conformity with the teaching of the Tao.” Daoism is a religion of opposites and unity. It is where yin and yang started and the principal of it is it sees the world as filled with complementary forces. Daoism practices include meditation, which is concentration or mindfulness or visualization.
In Confucianism Ren and Li enable one to preserve the Dao, when an individual’s Benevolence and the proper manners or behavior pattern combine, a mystical power is produced with human and spiritual relations. Only through ritualized interactions with others and with the spirits can one realize one’s full potential as a human being. Daoism Dao is the primordial entity that exist in an undifferentiated state prior to the coming into being of the myriad things. Daoism evolved out of the same ancient Chinese religious mindset as Confucianism
Daoist philosophies fixated on the harmonious and mysterious workings of nature, harmony being the fact that every living or nonliving thing has its opposite. Daoism is most commonly associated with Laozi; he, “stressed that nature contains a divine impulse that directs all life” (World Civilizations). According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Laozi’s teachings were the inspiration behind many books, cultural traditions, and works of art. Daoism found its popularity among the upper class who were seeking out a religious way of life. The fact that the wealthy were interested in Daoist morals is quite ironic due to Daoism’s focus on frugal living and modesty.
Although both Confucius and Mencius have a lot in common with regards to governance, the two do have varying opinions on certain matters such as the legitimacy when rulers are overthrown, and the relationship between the ruler and his people. In precedence to coming up with policies and administrative measures, one has to first consider the issue of human nature as it plays an essential role in the development of a state 's political system. In the Confucian philosophy, the belief is that goodness is innate in humans and that everyone shares this same trait [子曰:“性相近也,习相远也。”] (Analects, 17.2). Mencius further elaborated on this doctrine by stating that it is mankind’s natural tendency to be kind to others, just as water would naturally flow downwards (Mencius, 6A2).