Chinese Schools of Thought:

Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism

Warm Up

Which of the following approaches do you think would be most effective in dealing with school violence? Why?

1. Assign violent students a “big brother/sister” who is a respected older student in another grade. They would teach the bully how to behave properly

2. Allow studenst guilty of fighting or bullying to go unpunished, hoping they will eventually learning from their mistakes

3. Have school authorities publish the rules for unacceptable behavior and assign harsh punishments for violating rules

Timeline of Ancient Dynasties

Warring States Period (475-221 BC)

• Period of competition between local clan leaders for control of China

• Many thinkers developed competing philosophies, attempting to bring stability and peace to China

What is a philosophy?

• Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism are not religions. They have no gods or description of the afterlife.

• They are “philosophies” (systems of ideas) and are also called “schools of thought.”

Confucianism

• Founder was Confucius (born 551 BC)

• Part of a noble but poor family

• Wandered to local courts advising rulers on how to govern

Confucius’ Five Relationships

• Harmony occurs when people accept their place in society and have correct relationships.

• They should listen to those with more authority: – Father to son

– Elder brother to younger brother

– Husband to wife

– Ruler to subject

– Friend to friend

Legalism • Founder was Hanfeizi

(died 233 BC)

• Believed that all people were naturally evil

• The only way to achieve order was strict laws and harsh punishments

• The best ruler was strict and merciless

Legalism and Government

• Official policy of the Qin Emperor, Shi Huangdi, who united China after the Warring States Period.

• Qin Shi Huangdi was cruel and many later Chinese people hated legalism because of him.

Daoism/ Taoism

• Founder was Laozi- contemporary of Confucius

Daoism and “The Way”

• Daoists sought to live in harmony with nature and Dao, or “the way” of the universe.

• Tried to avoid conflict and simply “go with the flow”

• Daoists believed government was unnatural and should be as small as possible

Daoism and Government

• “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

• How were Laozi’s ideas different from those of Confucius and Hanfeizi?

Group Work

For each scenario, work with your group to develop a short response from the Confucian, Legalist, and Daoist perspectives. 1. You know that you are failing a class and that

you will be in trouble with your parents once they find out. What would you do?

2. Your friends started smoking, and are trying to get you to start. How would you handle this situation?

3. You have just found $50 in the school hallway, what would you do?