Transcript Three Chinese Philosophies

Confucius
http//gem:starlimo.com/doorste
ps-confucius-biography-intagalog
Han Feizi
http://yanxishan.wordpress.com/2007/05/
30/top-ten-chinese-thinkers-3-han-feizi/
Three Chinese Philosophies
By: Max Whalen and Skye Johnson
Laozi
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
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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
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!