Compare And Contrast Daoism And Shang Dynasty

As China and its culture developed early on, different sets of ideas, such as Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism, had different influences. While the Shang dynasty ruled in China, it was believed that the “foundation of the universe” was represented by the yin yang symbol. The yin yang symbol demonstrates a complete balance between a dark and bright symbol, which to the Shang rulers was the marriage of Qian, referred to as heaven, and Kun, known as the earth. This symbolism is like day and night, one cannot exist without the other. The yin yang symbol is also a representation of a Daoist principle called qi, which is the energy that flows in nature. Daoism’s main principle is that of harmonizing with nature, making Daoism’s ideas very spiritual,
so it didn’t impact the political side of China like its contemporary Confucianism.
Confucianism developed around the same time that Daoism developed, which was in the 6th century B.C.E. during the Zhou dynasty. While Daoism was a more spiritual set of ideas, Confucianism was a “practical” philosophy, which would later take effect politically. Confucian values were based on “self-control, proprietary, reverence for one’s elders, and virtuous behavior.” Confucianism instructed people on how to behave, since its main principle is li, which means proper conduct. Confucianism would later be adopted as the state religion during the Han dynasty because leader liked the fact that Confucianism emphasized respect for elders, authority, and right conduct. Confucianism would later be taught in academies. Confucianism was also seen implied in the everyday life. Although women scholars were respected back then, they still had to adhere to the Confucian principle of male superiority to females.
Before the Han dynasty ruled, the Qin dynasty was in control. However, the Qin dynasty only ruled for about fifteen years due to it philosophy of Legalism. Legalism instructs states to administer total control over the people. The Qin Legalist views resulted in restraining people from free speech, abusing scholars, destroying classical texts, a harsh tax structure, and having complete power over the people of China. The Chinese eventually rebelled against the Qin dynasty, allowing the Han dynasty to take over, and put back into place what the Qin had taken away.