Sixth Grade Social Studies: Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism
During the chaotic Warring States Period, Chinese thinkers sought solutions to societal disorder, giving rise to the "Hundred Schools of Thought."
The Crisis of the Warring States Period
Between 475 and 221 BCE, ancient China was consumed by civil war. As the authority of the Zhou dynasty collapsed, seven rival feudal states battled for territorial control. Armies grew from aristocratic chariot units into mass conscript infantry forces equipped with deadly iron swords and newly invented bronze crossbows. Entire cities were slaughtered, farms were burned, and traditional social order dissolved. In response to this violence, philosophers emerged across China asking a fundamental question: How can society restore peace, stability, and harmony?
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| THE HUNDRED SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT |
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| PHILOSOPHY | FOUNDING THINKERS | CORE METHOD TO RESTORE ORDER |
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| CONFUCIANISM | Confucius | Cultivating moral virtue, filial|
| | (Kong Fuzi) | piety, proper ritual (*Li*), and|
| | | the Five Key Relationships. |
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| DAOISM | Laozi | Living in harmony with nature |
| (TAOISM) | (Lao-Tzu) | (*the Dao*), embracing inaction |
| | | (*Wu Wei*), rejecting desire. |
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| LEGALISM | Han Feizi, | Strict, uniform written laws, |
| | Shang Yang | absolute state authority, severe|
| | | punishments, rewarding spies. |
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Confucianism: Harmony Through Moral Order
Confucianism was founded by Kong Fuzi (Master Kong), latinized as Confucius (551–479 BCE). Born to an impoverished noble family in the small state of Lu, Confucius worked as an accountant, estate overseer, and educator. He traveled between royal courts hoping to find a ruler who would put his ideas into practice, but was repeatedly rebuffed. Following his death, his loyal disciples collected his sayings and dialogues into a famous text known as the Analects (Lunyu).
The Five Key Relationships
Confucius believed that social harmony begins within the family and expands outward to the state. He identified Five Fundamental Relationships that organize human society:
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| THE FIVE CONFUCIAN RELATIONSHIPS |
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| SUPERIOR ROLE (Protection/Care) | INFERIOR ROLE (Respect/Obedience) |
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| 1. Ruler | Subject |
| 2. Father | Son |
| 3. Husband | Wife |
| 4. Older Brother | Younger Brother |
| 5. Friend | Friend (Mutual Equality & Trust) |
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In every relationship (except that between friends), one person occupies a senior position and the other a junior position. Confucius taught that peace is achieved when both parties fulfill their duties: the superior must treat the inferior with benevolence, wisdom, and justice, while the inferior owes absolute obedience, respect, and loyalty.
Filial Piety, Ren, and Li
The bedrock of Confucian ethics is Xiao—filial piety, the profound respect, obedience, and reverence that children owe to their parents and ancestors. Confucius taught that a child who learns respect and obedience at home will never become a rebellious, disobedient citizen. The ideal person is a Junzi (a "gentleman" or person of noble moral character), defined by two essential virtues: Ren (benevolence, empathy, and humaneness) and Li (proper etiquette, social manners, and ceremonial propriety).
Daoism: Harmony Through the Natural Flow
Daoism (or Taoism) offered an alternative response to the violence of the Warring States Period, rejecting rigid social rules and state politics in favor of individual alignment with nature.
Laozi and the Daodejing
Daoism is traditionally attributed to Laozi ("Old Master"), a semi-legendary sage who served as a royal archivist in the Zhou court. Disillusioned with human corruption, Laozi rode a water ox westward into the mountains to live in solitude. Before passing through the western gate of the realm, the border guard persuaded him to record his wisdom. Laozi penned a brief, poetic masterpiece of 5,000 characters known as the Daodejing ("The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue").
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| THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE TAO (DAO) |
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| THE DAO: "The Way" - The eternal, nameless, inexhaustible cosmic |
| force that drives and sustains the natural universe. |
| |
| WU WEI: "Effortless Inaction" - Acting in natural harmony without |
| forcing, striving, fighting, or imposing rigid human rules.|
| Like water: yielding, soft, yet carving through granite. |
| |
| YIN & YANG: Dual cosmic forces; dynamic balance between opposites. |
| Yin: Dark, cool, soft, feminine, receptive, passive. |
| Yang: Bright, warm, hard, masculine, active, aggressive. |
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The Principle of Wu Wei
The primary moral practice of Daoism is Wu Wei, often translated as "effortless action" or "non-striving." Daoists observe that nature does not rush, plot, or struggle, yet everything in the universe is accomplished. Daoists compare the ideal life to water: water is yielding, soft, and humble, always seeking the lowest places that humans despise, yet over time it cuts through the hardest granite mountains. Rulers were advised to govern with a light hand, as Laozi wrote: "Governing a large country is like frying a small fish—too much poking and handling ruins it."
Legalism: Order Through Absolute State Power
While Confucians placed their faith in moral education and Daoists retreated into nature, Legalist philosophers believed that human beings were inherently selfish, greedy, and untrustworthy, requiring severe external controls to prevent chaos.
Han Feizi and Shang Yang
Legalism was synthesized by Han Feizi (c. 280–233 BCE) and put into practice by Lord Shang Yang in the western state of Qin. Legalists dismissed Confucian appeals to ancestor rituals, moral virtue, and tradition as useless sentimentalism that caused the downfall of the Zhou dynasty.
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| THE THREE PILLARS OF LEGALISM |
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| 1. FA (The Written Law): |
| Clear, explicit, codified statutes published openly throughout the |
| empire so all citizens understand requirements and penalties. |
| |
| 2. SHU (Administrative Tactics / Statecraft): |
| Secret methods and intelligence used by the ruler to maintain |
| control over government ministers and root out treasonous plots. |
| |
| 3. SHI (Legitimate Imperial Power): |
| The position and absolute authority of the throne, backed by |
| unquestioned military strength and state power. |
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The System of Rewards and Punishments
Legalism operated through the "Two Handles of Government": reward and punishment. Legalists established clear, public written laws (Fa) backed by severe penalties for even petty offenses. If stealing a cucumber from a communal garden resulted in having one's foot amputated, Legalists argued, no citizen would ever dare commit grand theft or treason. Society was organized into mutual responsibility groups where neighbors were required to spy on one another; if one person broke a law and a neighbor failed to report it, the entire group was executed. Legalism aimed to build an efficient military machine geared toward two goals: intensive farming to fill state granaries and relentless warfare to expand the borders.
Review Exercises
Exercise 1: Describe the historical conditions during the Warring States Period that motivated the rise of the "Hundred Schools of Thought."
Exercise 2: Explain the Confucian concept of the Five Key Relationships, and describe how filial piety (Xiao) served as the foundation for social harmony.
Exercise 3: Contrast Daoism's principle of Wu Wei with Legalism's "Two Handles of Government" as competing methods for maintaining social order.
Solutions
Solution 1: The Warring States Period (475–221 BCE) was an era of civil warfare following the collapse of central Zhou authority. Seven major kingdoms waged wars using mass conscript armies, iron weapons, and crossbows, destroying farms and cities. This widespread devastation compelled Chinese intellectuals to formulate philosophical systems—such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism—to discover how to end warfare and restore social order.
Solution 2: Confucius identified Five Key Relationships: Ruler to Subject, Father to Son, Husband to Wife, Older Brother to Younger Brother, and Friend to Friend. In each pair (except friends), the superior owes benevolence, justice, and protection, while the inferior owes respect and obedience. Filial piety (Xiao)—reverence and devotion to parents—was foundational because learning obedience and moral respect in the family taught individuals to be virtuous, law-abiding citizens who would respect civic authorities.
Solution 3: Daoism advocated Wu Wei ("effortless action" or non-striving), urging rulers and citizens to live in harmony with the natural flow of the Dao, avoid imposing rigid artificial rules, and yield like water rather than using force. In contrast, Legalism operated on the premise that human nature was selfish and depraved, relying on the "Two Handles of Government"—strict, uniform laws backed by generous rewards for loyal military service and draconian physical punishments for infractions to enforce obedience through terror.