Kong Qui or K’ung Fu-tzu (“Master K’ung”) (Confucius) (551-479 BC) was a teacher who
established a philosophy called Confucianism. He believed that people were basically good and
that if people followed strict rules of moral and correct behavior, then all the ills of the world
would be gone. He felt that people needed to follow traditional rituals exactly, and that they
should keep to their place in society, or follow their “li” (an ideal way of behaving; sons should
be loyal to their fathers, no matter what, for example). Leaders had to be like a father to their
people and set a good moral example. Confuciansim set a very strict code of behavior, but it was
a way that could be learned which meant that everyone could attain happiness.
Lao Tzu was the founder of Taoism, another philosophy that sometimes competes with and is
sometimes compatible with Confucianism. Although Confuciansim can be applied to
government, Taoism is specifically
concerned with only the
spirit of man. The main belief is that people are basically good but when they don’t live by the
ways of nature, they become unhappy. Taoism states that people should try to attain harmony
and balance, mainly through passivity (or not over-doing). Tao (pronounced “dow”) is “The
Way” to follow to attain harmony. People need to follow their nature to follow The Way.
Mo Tzu (471-391 BC) developed a philosophy that was similar to Confucianism but that focused
less on ritual and more on the idea of love. He felt that humans suffered because of partial love,
or love just for a few. He felt that if people practiced universal love, or loved all humans equally,
then suffering would be eliminated.
Last of the major schools was an off-shoot of Confucianism, called Legalism. Led by Han Fei,
the Legalists believed in the strictness of Confucius, but their basic belief was that people were
basically evil and that it was the role of a strict and moral government to control that evilness.
Laws had to be strict and ruthless to control people (the emperor was not exempt from these strict
laws, either).