Confucianism was derived from the philosophy that the brilliant scholar Confucius developed. His philosophy concerned worldly goals and ideas that would insure social order and good government. Confucius taught that it was important for people to accept their place in society. He emphasized five main relationships: father to son, elder brother to younger brother, husband to wife, ruler to subject, friend to friend. According to Confucius, everyone had duties and responsibilities and proper behavior would bring order and stability. Confucius thought that filial duty, or respect for parents, was more important than any of the other duties. When it came to government, Confucius said that a ruler had the responsibility to provide good government; in return, the people should be respectful and loyal subjects.

Legalism: 

The philosophy of Legalism came from the teachings of Hanfeizi. According to Hanfeizi, “The nature of man is evil. His goodness is acquired.” He said that greed was the reason for most actions and the cause of most conflicts. Hanfeizi claimed that the only way to achieve order was to pass strict laws and enforce harsh punishments. His teachings became known as Legalism because of his emphasis on law. Legalists though that strength, not goodness, was a ruler’s greatest quality. Many ancient rulers chose Legalism as the most effective way to keep order, but the laws were so cruel that later generations despised it, although it survived in some laws.

Daoism:

The founder of Daoism was known as Laozi or “Old Master”. Daoism was not concerned with bringing order to human affairs; Instead, Daoists wanted to live in harmony with nature. Laozi looked beyond every day cares to focus on the Dao, or “the way” of the universe. Daoists wanted to end conflict between human desires and the simple ways of nature. Many Daoists turned from the “unnatural” ways of society. They viewed government as unnatural and the reason for many problems. To Daoists, the best government was one that governed the least. Daoism became a popular religion with gods, goddesses, and magical practices that were still based upon Laozi’s teachings. Daoists work contributed to science and medicine as they did experiments and tried to find substances that would give them immortality.

Confucianism takes an approach that focuses on a person’s moral character. The creator of Confucianism, Confucius, believed that if society were shaped around five basic relationships (ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, older brother and younger brother, and friend and friend) then harmony amongst society and government would be achieved. It is also believed children should practice filial piety, or respect for their parents and ancestors. Confucius also believed in creating a bureaucracy, or a government run by many different appointed officials.

Daoism is very different from Confucianism. Instead of being interested in morals, Taoists believe that a good government is a government that governed the least. They overlooked everyday problems and felt that nature would work everything out in the end. Created by a man named Laozi, the point of Daoism is to become one with Dao, or “the Way” and the universe as a whole. The universe will guide all things and humans should simply live in harmony with nature and let things be.

The harshest of the three, Legalism focuses more on strong laws and punishments to fix government. The creator of Legalism, Hanfeizi, believed that all people were born bad, and that they were simply taught to be good. To do so, they’re must be strict laws that were enforced with threats of terrible punishment, like cutting off an arm and an ear. Legalists believe that rulers should reward people who do their work and duties. They also taught that political opinions should be harnessed because “it was for the prince to govern and the people to obey”.

Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism all thought good government could be achieved, though they all had very different views on how to achieve it. All of their ideas helped to stop the violence and chaos and bring peace and prosperity to China even today.

Ancient China’s religions of Confucianism and Legalism focused on political structure and inter class relations, but Daoism was mostly kept separate from the government. Confucianism’s approach to inter class relationships was “do unto others as your status and theirs dictate” (Stearns 47). Sort of like Confucianism, Legalism upheld the view of class relationships between the militant and commoner classes. Legalism’s view on relationships between rulers and the ruled was that “the army would control and the people would labor” (Stearns 49).Daoism stayed unrelated to politics until persuaded otherwise during the Han dynasty, though it still clung to “humility and frugal living” as its center, and kept politics as a side note (Stearns 50). These three religions of Ancient China Focused upon relationships instead of trying to explain every day occurrences like other earlier religions.

Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece’s religions were focused on how to explain phenomenon of everyday in an “of-this-world” approach. Greece’s religion was connected to everyday life giving it an applicable quality (Duiker 112). Ancient Rome and Greece worshiped almost the same deities just with different names. Philosophy might be considered a religion because of the huge affect it had on their societies. Plato suggested that through reasoning we may be able to understand the “three perfect forms” of the absolute truth, good, and beautiful, which were to him the basic parts of the universe (Stearns 94). Stoicism, another religion formulated by the Ancient Greeks and Romans, focused on “inner moral independence, to be cultivated by strict discipline of the body and by personal bravery” (Stearns 93).

The ancient religions of Greece, Rome, and China were the base for the new religions to come and each had its effect on the next. An example could be when Roman and Greece’s religion was been likened to Confucianism “although with greater emphasis on skeptical questioning and abstract questioning about the basic nature of humanity and the universe” (Stearns 94). When their religious system in place would not satisfy the people they would simply come up with a new one that better solved their personal problems and their need for something larger in life. Since each religion was a major part of each culture’s life it changed the course of their life dramatically. Since each religion affected life so much it’s no secret that religions changed the course of history. This is why the understanding of the ancient civilizations is important to the understanding of Modern World History.

The Qin Dynasty is perhaps best well-known for its system of Legalism, which was closely associated with the extraordinary life and career of First Minister Li Si (280-208 BCE). Legalism required absolute obedience to the law. No one (apart from the Emperor, who was a divine creature in any case) would be free from the burden on obeying the law. Emperor and Minister understood that the main danger to the empire they had created through seemingly endless years of bloody warfare and secret plotting would come from within. The constituent parts of the empire had been longstanding states in their own right, each one with its aristocratic families and bureaucratic elites. Any show of favouritism ran the risk of igniting the desire among people for a return to their own country and to the freedoms they once had.

Li Si’s task was first to ensure the law existed in a comprehensive and coherent format. This necessitated standardization of the language – then as now, Chinese from different parts of the empire could scarcely understand one another’s spoken language. Li Si overcame this by ensuring that everyone used the same characters to represent the same words so that, if oral communication became problematic, then at least recourse to the written form of the word could resolve misunderstanding. At the same time, the Minister also reconciled all the different weights and measures systems in use across the vast territory of China. He assisted the Emperor in building the Great Wall to mark the limits of Chinese-ness in the north, while resisting the incursions of the northern nomadic barbarians. In the south, the Chinese yoke was thrown around the neck of the Nanhai people – perhaps as far south as Vietnam and Kunming.

Once the law was standard across China, then steps were taken to ensure that all people were judged by it impartially – that rather unfortunately meant without compassion and with little if any recourse to mercy. People were encouraged (i.e. obliged) to report on their neighbours if they broke any law and entire families could be held responsible for the wrongdoing of one individual, in accordance, it was occasionally claimed, with the thinking of Confucius. This was institutionalized terror on a grand scale. It is not surprising that the people hated it.

For more details, see Clements, Jonathan, The First Emperor of China (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2007).