Chinese Thinkers

Main Idea: Three Chinese philosophies—Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism—grew out of a need for order.

As the Zhou kingdom weakened in the 500s B.C.E., violence became common. During the Period of the Warring States, rulers sent armies to destroy enemy states. Whole villages of men, women, and children were beheaded. Many Chinese began looking for ways to restore order to society.

Between 500 B.C.E. and 200 B.C.E., Chinese thinkers developed three major theories about how to create a peaceful society. These theories are called Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

Who Was Confucius?

Confucius (kuhn • FYOO • shuhs) was ancient China’s first great thinker and teacher. He wanted to end the problems in China and bring peace to society.

Confucius believed that people needed to have a sense of duty. Duty meant that a person must put the needs of family and community before his or her own needs. Each person owed a duty to another person. Parents owed their children love, and children owed their parents honor. Husbands owed their wives support, and wives owed their husbands obedience. Above all, rulers had to set good examples. If a king ruled for the common good, his subjects would respect him and society would prosper.

Confucius believed that if each person did his or her duty, society as a whole would do well. He also urged people to be good and to seek knowledge: "There are those who act without knowing; I will have none of this. To hear a lot, choose the good, and follow it, to see a lot and learn to recognize it: this is next to knowledge." —Confucius, Analects

To Confucius, the best way to behave was similar to an idea known as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Confucius urged people to “measure the feelings of others by one’s own,” for “within the four seas all men are brothers.”

Confucius traveled through China trying to persuade government leaders to follow his ideas. Confucianism (kuhn• FYOO• shuh• NIH • zuhm) taught that all men with a talent for governing should take part in government. Of course, this idea was not popular with aristocrats, and few leaders listened.

Over time, Confucius won many followers who honored him as a great teacher. They wrote down his sayings and carried his message. After Confucius died in 479 B.C.E., his sayings spread throughout China.

What Is Daoism?

Daoism (DOW• IH • zuhm) is another Chinese philosophy that promotes a peaceful society. Daoism (also

called Taoism) is based on the teachings of Laozi (LOWD• ZOO). Laozi, or the Old Master, lived around the same time as Confucius. Scholars do not know if Laozi was a real person. However, the ideas credited to him became popular between 500 B.C.E. and 300 B.C.E.

The ideas of Daoism are written in Dao De Jing (The Way of the Dao). Like Confucianism, Daoism tells people how to

behave. Daoists believed that people should give up worldly desires. They should turn to nature and the Dao—the force that guides all things. To show how to follow the Dao, Daoists used examples from nature: "Higher good is like water: the good in water benefits all, and does so without contention. It rests where people dislike to be, so it is close to the Way. Where it dwells becomes good ground; profound is the good in its heart, Benevolent the good it bestows."—Laozi, Tao Te Ching

In some ways, Daoism is the opposite of Confucianism. Confucius taught that people should work hard to improve the world. Daoism told people to give up their concerns about the world. It said they should seek inner peace and live in harmony with nature. Many Chinese followed both Confucianism and Daoism.

What Is Legalism?

A third group of thinkers disagreed with the idea that honorable men in government could bring peace to society. Instead, they argued for a system of laws. People called their thinking Legalism (LEE • guh• LIH • zuhm), or the “School of Law.”

A scholar named Hanfeizi (HAN • fay • DZOO) developed the teachings of Legalism during the 200s B.C.E. Unlike Confucius or Laozi, Hanfeizi taught that humans were naturally evil. He believed that the government needed to issue harsh laws and stiff punishments to force them to do their duty. His followers believed that a strong ruler was needed to maintain order in society. Many aristocrats liked Legalism because it favored force and power, and did not require rulers to show kindness or understanding. Its ideas led to cruel laws and punishments for Chinese farmers.