Confucianism, Daoism & Legalism Essay -- essays research papers

Amidst the chaos of political instability and constant hawkish of the Zhou era, arose many intellectual thinkers that brought much(prenominal) profound impact in the field of politics, religion and philosophy. Even to the day, their influence can be espied in the many matters of China. Confucianism became the paramount school of thinking and later significant philosophies such as Daoism and Legalism take a shited immense recognition as well. Each party had their experience proposals for creating an idealistic political society where the many problems they faced in their prevalent lives could be eliminated. All three comees were very distinct but at the same time, they contained certain similarities as well. In my reasoning, I find that Confucianism and Daoism could be par alleled in many ways to find s everal common grounds. On the otherwise hand, Legalism goes on to take a more unique approach which was much divergent from the previous two.      Kongzi ( Confucius, a Latinized name) was born in 551 B.C.E., to a poor family of the lower nobility. Throughout his life, he relentlessly tried to gain an office with a prominent ruler of the time who was willing to play along his various concepts. Unfortunately, Confucius died in 479 B.C.E., before such a change ever took place. However, he make ited in winning over a handful of pass on followers who continued his legacy and Confucianism later went on to become unitary of the most influential thought systems of Chinese history. Of his followers, Mencius and Xunzi became the most ren own. Since Confucius did not succeed in completing a manual of his views, these followers had to derive their own interpretations of the system which now formulate, the Analects. The Analects portray an idealized gentleman, and his various duties in ground of the society, family and the rituals. Confucius explains about the way (Dao) which he believed, that if the people accepted its terms and were willing to abide, they would succeed in creating a utopian society.     By the root of the common era, another philosophy emerges and gains wide espousal among the commoners. Daoism, just alike the predecessor and also as the name implies, puts emphasis on "the way," that a certain individual is to abide to. Even though the two systems had different concepts about the way, the common denominator of both schools ... ...    Morality and benevolence were crucial factors for a successful state, correspond to Confucianism and Daoism. They also placed great importance for rituals and other traditions. umteen practices were continued throughout generations. Legalism believed that such aspects should have no spot in the government. According to them, a strong rule with a grim hand was necessary in order to keep the citizens from growing indolent 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. "Qin conquered Yan in 226, Wei in 225, Chu in 223, Qu in 221. Now, in 221, it ruled the entire Chinese arena and was ready to make that world over in the image of Qin" (Wills 41). Many of the Legalist ideas were quite thought provoking and praiseworthy they believed in equality for all and government according to merit. However, the system gained a rotten reputation according to the ruthless rule of the First Emperor. Confucianism thus became the official Philosophy, gaining wide acceptance in China.