The Three Chinese Philosophies
The Zhou dynasty was one of the earliest dynasties of China. It started in 1045 and ended in 256 B.C.E, making it one of the longest lasting dynasties in Chinese history. The Zhou rulers used feudalism to help their role. This allowed the king to have most of the power, but he gave some to others called lords, to help manage other things. This worked very well until about 700 B.C.E. At this time some of the lords had gained so much power that they had near the same level as the king. Groups of lords would start to join together and these groups would fight for power causing an immense amount of chaos. Because of this the Chinese started to wonder the best way to rule an empire. There were so many ways that came about that they were called the “Hundred Schools of Thought.” The three most popular philosophies were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. They later became known as the Three Chinese Philosophies. The first philosophy Confucianism, was founded by a man named Confucius. He was born in 551 B.C.E, because of when he was born he experienced much of the chaos growing up. Which lead him to wanting to help things change once he grew up. Confucius wanted a society that was calm and just. He believed the way to achieve this was to have people act the right way. His also believed there were five basic relationships that had to be well acted upon: older and younger sibling, husband and wife, father and son, ruler and subject, and friend and friend. He said that the one with the power in the relationship must act like a role model. One of his better known beliefs is “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.” Confucius died in 479 B.C.E believing that his ideas had not made a difference, but he had no clue how big of a difference it would make. He was a very respected philosopher and because of this after his death many of his beliefs and ideas were made into a book called the Analects. Confucius is the most influential philosopher in Chinese history, …show more content…
The founder of Daoism is Laozi (Lao Tzu) Scholars often debate if Laozi was real at all, but agree the book he supposedly wrote definitely is. The Dao De Jing is a text about the religious and philosophical side of Daoism. The story of how it came about was that Laozi had grown old and was leaving China. The border patrol officer recognized him and was sad that China would be losing such a great teacher, so he asked him to write down his thoughts, so Laozi wrote a small paper only 5,000 characters. That paper became the foundation of Daoism. Some of the things the Dao De Jing preached were, that to have a happy and complete life one must connect with nature. It also said that true harmony came from balancing the Yin and Yang. They also believed that people could not be pushed along, and that they had to discover the Dao for themselves. The Dao De Jing told leaders to not micro manage, and that too many rules get in the way of life. It possibly made its biggest influence on art, writing, and thought, it even became a
The Zhou dynasty was one of the earliest dynasties of China. It started in 1045 and ended in 256 B.C.E, making it one of the longest lasting dynasties in Chinese history. The Zhou rulers used feudalism to help their role. This allowed the king to have most of the power, but he gave some to others called lords, to help manage other things. This worked very well until about 700 B.C.E. At this time some of the lords had gained so much power that they had near the same level as the king. Groups of lords would start to join together and these groups would fight for power causing an immense amount of chaos. Because of this the Chinese started to wonder the best way to rule an empire. There were so many ways that came about that they were called the “Hundred Schools of Thought.” The three most popular philosophies were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. They later became known as the Three Chinese Philosophies. The first philosophy Confucianism, was founded by a man named Confucius. He was born in 551 B.C.E, because of when he was born he experienced much of the chaos growing up. Which lead him to wanting to help things change once he grew up. Confucius wanted a society that was calm and just. He believed the way to achieve this was to have people act the right way. His also believed there were five basic relationships that had to be well acted upon: older and younger sibling, husband and wife, father and son, ruler and subject, and friend and friend. He said that the one with the power in the relationship must act like a role model. One of his better known beliefs is “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.” Confucius died in 479 B.C.E believing that his ideas had not made a difference, but he had no clue how big of a difference it would make. He was a very respected philosopher and because of this after his death many of his beliefs and ideas were made into a book called the Analects. Confucius is the most influential philosopher in Chinese history, …show more content…
The founder of Daoism is Laozi (Lao Tzu) Scholars often debate if Laozi was real at all, but agree the book he supposedly wrote definitely is. The Dao De Jing is a text about the religious and philosophical side of Daoism. The story of how it came about was that Laozi had grown old and was leaving China. The border patrol officer recognized him and was sad that China would be losing such a great teacher, so he asked him to write down his thoughts, so Laozi wrote a small paper only 5,000 characters. That paper became the foundation of Daoism. Some of the things the Dao De Jing preached were, that to have a happy and complete life one must connect with nature. It also said that true harmony came from balancing the Yin and Yang. They also believed that people could not be pushed along, and that they had to discover the Dao for themselves. The Dao De Jing told leaders to not micro manage, and that too many rules get in the way of life. It possibly made its biggest influence on art, writing, and thought, it even became a