Taoism and Confucianism in the Warring States Period

Confucianism and Taoism as Responses to the Warring States Period

Confucianism and Taoism were the two main philosophies developed in China during the Warring States Period, which began around 400 BC and lasted until 221 BC. During this chaotic time, China became divided into seven different states or regional powers ruled by lords or dukes, who soon began to call themselves "kings" — an indication of the state of utter division that reigned in China, where the authority of the dynastic king was no longer recognized. This chaotic social and political context is considered to have been the catalyst for the great cultural developments that followed, including the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism as philosophical reactions to the prevailing social chaos — both traditions aimed at reestablishing lost order and balance for the individual and for society.

Core Principles of Confucianism

Confucianism was developed by Confucius in the fifth century BC and was, together with Taoism, one of the dominant philosophical traditions in China until the beginning of the twentieth century. In many respects, the two philosophies are alike, although Confucianism is more oriented toward society and social practices, whereas Taoism is a more abstract philosophy focused on the individual and on the path to absolute truth and freedom of mind.

The main principles of Confucianism — especially as later defined by Mencius — were the belief in the innate goodness of humanity, in righteousness, virtue, and mutual respect. These principles were extended to all actions, whether individual or social, and were held to be the primary instruments for governing both oneself and the state. The Confucians believed that, to achieve governance through virtue, people should center their lives around various rituals, which encompassed everything from the proper way to lie during sleep to the proper way in which the empire should be governed. Thus, rather than relying on external laws, rites were preferred because they encouraged individuals to act from inner virtue rather than from obedience to an external will. As stated in the fourth chapter of the Analects: "The Master said, 'If the will be set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness.'" (Legge)

Core Principles of Taoism

In contrast to Confucianism, Taoism believed not in virtue as such, but in the following of "the way" — or "tao" — which was also a mode of behavior and a general attitude toward life. It focused, however, on the means of attaining absolute truth and absolute knowledge: "Those who are good I treat as good. / Those who are not good I also treat as good. / In so doing I gain in goodness." The Taoists thus believed that the way must integrate everything that exists — both what is considered evil and what is considered good — in order to achieve a complete view of the universe.

Non-Action and Spontaneity in Taoist Thought

The main tenets of Taoism were set forth by Lao Tzu and Chuang-Tzu in their writings. The principles of non-action and spontaneity were the most important principles that the Taoists advocated, and they were central to the Taoist understanding of true knowledge. Paradoxically, they believed that knowledge is not attained through the accumulation of information, but rather through the diminishment of it:

Without stirring abroad / One can know the whole world; / Without looking out the window / One can see the way of heaven. / The further one goes / The less one knows. (Tzu)

From this, the Taoists derived the principle of non-action, or stillness, which held that the "tao" is perceived by looking more deeply into things rather than by pursuing external learning. Non-action was preferred to action because meditation and insight were considered superior to the mere accumulation of knowledge:

In the pursuit of learning one knows more every day; / In the pursuit of the way one does less every day. / One does less and less until one does nothing at all, / and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone. (48)

Spontaneity and individual freedom were praised as expressions of the instinctual over the assertive mode of action. Rather than the purposeful and the determined, the Taoists preferred the path that led to freedom of thought and impulse. The "tao" itself was held to be impossible to name or explain fully — a quality that defined it as a way of being beyond ordinary states of mind.

Works Cited

Legge, James. The Chinese Classics. The Internet Sacred Text Archive. http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/cfu.htm

Robinet, Isabelle, and Phyllis Brooks. Taoism: The Growth of a Religion. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.

Tzu, Lao. Tao Te Ching. Terebess Asia Online (TAO). http://www.terebess.hu/english/tao/lau.html#Kap48