Chinese Traditional Religions
Legalism, Taoism, and Confucianism arose as a result of the turmoil that came from the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty. The period that the Zhou Dynasty collapsed is referred to as the period of the Warring States. Legalism, Taoism, and Confucianism are all ancient Chinese philosophies. Legalism is the Chinese realism; it is a body of thought that can be applied to the assessment of common problems, especially administration problems. Taoism is a religious philosophy that focuses on living in harmony with Tao, which is the source or force behind every existing thing. Confucianism is a philosophy that encompasses ethical and social-political teachings that form a religion. Legalism, Taoism, and Confucianism are philosophies that defined people’s ways of life but had different fundamental beliefs. A comparison between legalism and the other two philosophies makes me realize that Legalism is more suitable for today’s society; it states that the law is the most important thing in the society. Legalism focuses on the application of a strict legal system in the society to manage its problems.
The use of legalism in ancient Chinese advocated for a strict adherence to the law and paid no attention to ethics, compassion or morality. Any deviation from the law called for severe punishment, which would act as an example to the rest of the community. The same cannot be said about Taoism or Confucianism. Taoism advocated for a simple life that involved being in harmony with nature and negating concerns about worldly issues. Taoism encouraged reflection of oneself and trivial matters. Issues like advanced education, money and power had no weight in Taoism. Unlike Legalism, Confucianism was more about morality, it stated that power should be for those that are morally upright. More emphasis was put on morality than education. Legalism can be best applied in modern society so as to prevent anyone from acting as if they are above the law. Without any strict law, sanity may not exist in the society.
Legalism is different from both Taoism and Confucianism because both philosophies act as religions to Chinese people. Taoism is considered a religion because it emphasizes on people living in harmony with nature; it encourages happiness by avoiding greed and living according to the laws of nature. Taoism encourages a simple life. Confucianism is also considered a religion because it is a system with moral, ethical and philosophical attributes. Confucianism focuses on harmony between the society and government, respect for the elders and those in power. Confucianism rose to become the Chinese governing philosophical system. Legalism is different because it acts like a law and control governing system. Legalism does not have any religion features as it emphasizes more on strict regulation and harsh punishments than morals or simple living.
Legalism believed that human beings were bad and insisted that human nature means being evil. The evil in human nature should be severely punished. According to legalism, the government has the right to make laws that govern and control human beings. Since humanity was evil, Legalism advocated that people should be scared to obey the laws. Both Taoism and Confucianism had different views on human nature; they believed that human nature was good in general. These two philosophies were against any laws because human beings did not require them. Confucianism believed that laws should come from the inspiration of good behavior, and Taoism believed in living according to nature. Legalism is perfect in today’s society because of the evil that exists in human beings. There should be consequences of evil to prevent the evil from happening again.
Legalism, Taoism, and Confucianism all aimed at ending the conflict in China. Legalism helped end the Chinese conflict by suggesting that the society can be controlled. This philosophy emphasized that the government can only control people through strict laws. Legalism proposed that leaders can use a legal system to make people obey the law, it believed that a strong government would be the only way to end China’s conflict. Legalism felt that humans were wicked and that for the conflict to end, there must be strict laws followed by harsh punishment. Confucianism aimed at ending China’s conflict by insisting that mutual respect amongst people would create peace and harmony in the society. Confucianism taught the code of proper conduct, and that good behavior among people would contribute to the end of the conflict. Taoism was crucial in ending China’s conflict by encouraging people to live in harmony. Taoism used the yin-yang forces to help people find residence in the world.
Another similarity in the three philosophies is that they emphasized on achieving goodness. Legalism argues that goodness can only be achieved through total government control of the population, human beings are considered to be wicked. Confucianism states that the five relationships and filial piety achieve goodness while, in Taoism, goodness is achieved by sticking to the path of nature. The three philosophies do not regard individual freedom. Legalism commands individuals to obey the government strictly; Confucianism demands respect to humankind while Taoism insists that people follow the path of nature.













