Download Three Chinese Philosophies

Three Chinese
Philosophies
•The
Zhou dynasty lasted
from 1045 B.C.E to 256
B.C.E. and different leaders
fought for control in China.
•It
made Chinese thinkers
ask questions about the
best way to have peace and
order in a society.
•The
Chinese came up with
the philosophies of
Confucianism, Daoism, and
Legalism.
The Zhou Dynasty
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The Zhou dynasty, a
group from the
Northwest, moved into
the central plains and
overthrew the Shang
Dynasty.
To justify the conquest
over the Shang, the
Zhou claimed they had
been given the Mandate
of heaven, a divine
right to rule China.
The Zhou Dynasty
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According to this belief,
Heaven was a power
that controlled human
destiny.
The king was the son
of heaven and as long
as he governed well,
heaven gave him the
right to rule.
If the king didn’t
govern well, Heaven
would send him signs
of displeasure, such as
earthquakes and floods
The Zhou Dynasty
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Using a system of feudalism , the Zhou
increased the stability of the
government.
Under feudalism, the king owned all the
land.
He gave large pieces of land to loyal
supporters called lords.
In exchange these lords sent soldiers to
fight enemies who threatened their
king.
The lords had absolute power in their
land and peasants farmers worked their
lands and raised crops in exchange for
protection
The Zhou Dynasty
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The Feudalism system
worked in China for a
time, but the lords
became more
ambitious.
Groups throughout
China eventually
grouped into six or
seven states and
fought for power.
These wars brought
disorder all across
China for 250 years
and are known as the
Warring States period.
Confucianism
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Confucianism is based
on the teaching of
Kongfuzi , who is
called Confucius by
western society.
He experienced first
hand the disorder that
erupted when lords
fought for power.
Confucius respected
Chinese traditions and
wanted to teach men
of good character to
serve society as
honest and fair
government officials.
Confucianism
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The goal of
Confucianism was to
achieve a just and
peaceful society.
According to
Confucianism , there
are five basic
relationships between
people: ruler and
subject, husband and
wife, father and son,
older sibling and
younger sibling, and
friend and friend.
Confucianism
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All people must respect and
obey those that are above
them in status.
The influence of
Confucianism led Han
leaders to hire civil
servants on the basis of
ability.
To prove the candidates
had this knowledge, they
had to take exams that the
emperor himself might
have to grade.
Daoism
Daoism was started
by a wise man Laozi.
 Some scholars
believe that Laozi
was a real man,
while others feel that
he was merely a
legend and that
many writers wrote
Dao De Jing the basis
of Daoism.

Daoism
Daoism was based on
the ancient Chinese
idea of the Dao or
“the way.”
 Daoism taught that
people gained
happiness and peace
by living in harmony,
or agreement, with
the way of nature.

Daoism
To Daoists nature is
full of opposites, like
life and death or light
and darkness
 True Harmony comes
from balancing the
opposite forces of
nature called yin and
yang.

Daoism
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According to the Daoists
the best rulers are the
people who ruled least.
The Dao De Jing says,
“Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much
poking.”
Daoism encouraged rulers
to govern less harshly and
in time Daoism developed
into a popular religion.
Legalism
Legalism was the last
Chinese philosophy and
was based on the
teachings of Hanfeizi.
 Hanfeizi lived to see the
end of the Warring
states period and the
Zhou dynasty.
 His ideas survive today
in a book named after
him called Hanfeizi.
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Legalism
Those who followed
legalism believed that
most people are
naturally selfish
 Legalist believe that
people will always
pursue their self
interests

Legalism
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Legalists believed it
was not good enough
for rulers to set a
good example, they
must establish strict
laws and enforce
them either with
rewards for good
behavior or with
harsh punishments
for bad behavior.
Legalism
People who were
caught criticizing the
government were
banished to the
Northern frontier.
 Hanfeizi taught the
rulers that they must
have absolute power
backed by military
might.
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