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Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
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Three Chinese Philosophies
Confucianism
Confucianism means "The School of the Scholars"; is an East Asian ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese sage Confucius. It is a complex system of moral, social, political and religious which had tremendous influence on the history of Chinese civilization down to the 20th century. Confucianism was chosen by Han Wudi for use as a political system to govern the Chinese state. Despite its loss of influence during the Tang Dynasty, Confucianist remained a mainstream Chinese orthodoxy for two millennia until the beginning of the 20th century, when it was repressed by Chinese Communism.
Daoism
Daoism is a Chinese philosophical and religious system, dating from the 6th century B.C. Daoism begins with Lao Tzu who lived in the 6th century B.C. He was looking for a way to avoid the constant feudal warfare of his day that disrupted society. Lao Tzu allegedly wrote the Tao Te Ching. It explains essential Daoist beliefs. Daoism became one of the three philosophies. With the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty in 1911, state support for Daoism ended. Daoism has had a significant impact on North American culture in the areas of acupuncture, herbalism, holistic medicine, meditation and martial arts.
Legalism
The origins of Legalist thought are unclear. Some would date it as far back as the teaching of the 7th century BCE statesman Kuan Chung, whose teachings are supposed to be represented by the Kuan-tzu. Other figures associated with an early form of legalism are Shang Yang. Shang Yang was particularly important for the development of legalism since it was he who served as governor of the state of Ch'in and strengthened it to the extent that it was able to unify China in the following century. It was however, Han Fei-tzu who systematised the various strands of Legalism in his work The Han Fei-tzu. Han Fei-tzu had been taught by the Confucianist Hsun-tzu, whose philosophy claimed that people were basically evil but could be guided towards goodness. Han Fei-tzu adopted and developed Hsun-tzu's negative pessimistic attitude towards human nature by teaching that people were so bad that they needed to be controlled by strong government and strict laws.