Compare and Contrast Essay
Although Confucianism and Daoism were both developed during the era of the Warring states in China and both were practiced by most officials in the government at the same time, Confucianism and Daoism were developed for different reasons and addresses separate problems during the Warring states era.
Confucianism started as the compilation of the teachings of a single low level official known as Kong Fuzi. Confucianism was developed as a way for government to rule the largely small, city state like kingdoms during the Warring states era. Due to its backgrounds and the reason as to why Confucianism was produced, the religion idea stresses more on the politics and ethics, instead of religion and the theoretical world since focusing on such things would simply be a waste of time and energy that could be spent on more productive jobs. Likewise, Confucianism also promotes a semi-merritous way to gain offices. “Superior individuals”, known as Junzi, can have a say in how to run the state. Additionally, Confucianism also insists on the studying of the ancient Zhou Dynasty texts that not only were used for tools in government, it also became widespread as a teaching device.
Daoism, on the other hand, was created for a completely different reason. Rather than being created for a completely different mindset, Daoism was created to solely reject the attempts to change events that were deemed to come to pass, such as rebellion or internal strife. It was almost the exact opposite of Confucianism, which could be said to be actively trying to change the events. Not surprisingly, the “Dao” part of the Daoist to “The Way” which preaches for harmony and peace. In fact, the Daoist were so intent of keeping harmony and peace that the even said that attempting to control the world around them would lead to chaos. Therefore, this also meant that the Daoist strictly forbidden schools and also ones ambition to improve.
Ironically, despite