Compare China's Three Home-Grown Ideologies-Daoism

China’s three “home-grown ideologies” - Daoism (道家), Confucianism (儒學), and Legalism (法家), were different ways of creating harmony amidst the chaos during the Western and Eastern Zhou Period. Daoism was a way of living founded by Laozi (老子) in the 6th century B.C.. Laozi wrote a book, the Daodejing (道德經), comprised of his thoughts. Laozi stated that Dao (道), meaning way, is the way of harmonizing with nature. Humans are only a small aspect in the world, so they are not the most important aspects of the world. Later in the 5th century B.C., Confucius (孔夫子) tried to develop harmonization between people in order to restore peace to China. He advanced the concept of filial piety, respect for one’s elders, and the ways in which people should behave.
Zhuangzi then replied, “It is useless to you only because you want to make it into something else and do not use it in its proper way.” In other words, nature was created only for its natural use, not other manmade uses. Laozi also explained that “the best government was that which governs least.” (ART pg 48) The ruler should not interfere with his people’s individual lives, and the rulers should not have an army or weapons. For “arms (weapons) are instruments of ill omen...There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men.” (Document 8.3, Excerpts from Chapter 31). The story of Do-Nothing Say-Nothing, written by Zhuangzi, explains that by following Dao, or the way, “he who knows does not speak, and he who speaks does not know.” Daoism is a simplistic belief, one that has many advantages, but also many disadvantages. An advantage is that each person is responsible for their self, and that rulers don’t have to interfere and maybe cause conflicts. Daoism is also peaceful, creating no commotion or pain between people. Daoism is meant to be like water, only benefiting people and not asking for anything in return. A Daoist is meant to always follow the way of Dao, even though they might not understand all of the
He thought that if people were given certain rules to abide to, order would be restored to China. These rules applied to a family. A child must sincerely respect and obey his/her parents, and must revere them even after they die. This concept is known as filial piety. Filial piety is also staying loyal and defending your elders when they are in need. “The upright men in my (Confucius’) community are different from this. The father conceals the misconduct of the son and the son conceals the misconduct of the father.” (Filial piety, Confucius handout) Older siblings had more power than younger siblings and men had more power than women. Confucius thought that if each person knew their place and responsibility in their own family, each community would become more ordered. The base of Confucius’ teaching was humanity, ren (仁), which translates to “the way in which human beings relate to one another.” When humans commit actions they wish to regret, they have humanity. Their morals influence their decisions. A man of humanity is earnest, liberal, truthful, diligent, and