Three Chinese Philosophies

By: Max Whalen and Skye Johnson

http//gem:starlimo.com/doorsteps-confucius-biography-intagalog

Confucius

Laozi

Han Feizi

http://yanxishan.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/top-ten-chinese-thinkers-3-han-feizi/

http://www.reportret.info/gallery/laozi1.html

Confucianism• Confucius was the most famous philosopher

in Chinese history.• During his life, lords fought for power. • In China, civil servants were traditionally the

sons of nobles.

The five basic relationships

• Ruler and subject• Husband and wife• Father and son• Older sibling and younger sibling• Friend and Friend

How should people act in these basic relationships?

• In these basic relationships, all people must respect and obey those above them.

• In return, those with authority, such as fathers, husbands, and older siblings, must set a good example.

• They should be kind, honest, wise, and faithful.

Influence

• Values such as respect for elders, proper behavior, and love of scholarship became deeply woven into Chinese society.

• Confucius attracted many students who spread his teachings. After his death, some of them collected his sayings in a book called the Analects.

• This is a website about Confucius:• http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHPHIL/CONF.HTM

Daoism (Taoism)

• Laozi was a great sage, or wise man. • He was said to be the author of Dao De Jing.• Some people believe he was a real man, but

others believed he was only a legend.– This is a website about Laozi.

http://www.reportret.info/gallery/laozi1.html

How People Should Behave

• The Dao De Jing preached a return to a simple and natural way of living. For example, one passage says:

If you do not want your house to be molested my robbers, don’t fill it with gold and Jade.

Wealth, Rank, and arrogance add up to ruin.As surely as two and two are four.The Daoist believe that everyone must discover the

Dao for themselves.

Yin and Yang

• Yin: one half of the Daoist concept of opposing forces of nature; the opposite of Yang.

• Yang: One half of the Daoist concept of opposing forces of nature; the opposite of Yin.

• Yin means “shaded” and Yang means “sunlit”.

How Rulers Should Behave:

• The best rulers were those who ruled the least.

• Daoism encouraged rulers to rule less harshly.• The Dao De Jing says:• “Governing a large country is like frying a

small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.”• It also tells rulers “Be weak. Leave things

alone.”

Legalism

• Hanfeizi was a prince of a royal family of the state of Han.

• Like Confucius, Hanfeizi was very concerned with creating peace and order in society.

• He did not think that the Confucian teachings about proper behavior were the answer.

• Many of his ideas survive today in a book named after him, Hanfeizi.

The only way to create a strong society was…

• Establishing strict laws and enforce them with rewards for good behavior and harsh punishments for bad behavior.

• Civil servants should be watched carefully and punished for doing a poor job.

• People caught criticizing the government should be banned to China’s far northern frontier.

http://www.globalmountainsummit.org/great-wall-of-china.html

Hanfeizi believed that a ruler should govern by…

• Hanfeizi said that rulers have absolute power backed up by military might.

• Rulers should trust no one, not even their families.

• Hanfeizi wrote “He who trusts will be controlled by others.”

The Qin dynasty apply the teachings of Hanfeizi by…

• At the end of the Warring States period, the Qin dynasty seized control of China.

• Qin rulers read and admired Hanfeizi’s writing.• They wanted to build a strong central

government and a well-organized society.

Citations page:http://www.gemstarlimo.com/doorsteps-confucius-biography-intagalog Top Ten Chinese Thinkers #3: Han Feizi « The Yan Xishan Blog." The Yan Xishan Blog. Web. 03

May 2011. <http://yanxishan.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/top-ten-chinese-thinkers-3-han-feizi>.

Confucius." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. Web. 03 May 2011. <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHPHIL/CONF.HTM>.

Web. 03 May 2011. <http://www.reportret.info/gallery/laozi1.html>.

The Great Wall of China." Global Mountain Summit. Web. 03 May 2011. <http://www.globalmountainsummit.org/great-wall-of-china.html>.

The rest of the pictures were from Clip Art!

Citations