Confucianism

Confucianism is the philosophy that is greatly influenced by Chinese government and culture; it was based off of the teachings of Confucius (Kongfuzi). Confucius respected their traditions, but he also saw that the society and government must change. If there were to be peace and order he had to teach men of good character to be honest and fair government officials. Confucianism set the goal of a peaceful society. Confucius taught that the society worked well when everyone acted the way they were supposed to based on their roles and relationships with each other. In Confucianism there are five basic relationships: ruler and subject, husband and wife, father and son, older sibling and younger sibling, and friend and friend. Also everyone has to show respect to those above them, in return for their respect those with the authority must set a good example.

Daoism
Daoism is a philosophy that tries to give answers to the problems of good government and right living. Laozi (Lao-tzu) was the founder of Daoism, according to tradition. Laozi was thought to be the author of Dao De Jing or The Classic of the Way and Its Power. Daoism was based on the idea of Dao, the way. Dao was the force that gave order to the natural universe; it taught people that they gave happiness and peace by living in harmony with the way of nature. The Daoists knew that nature was full of opposites including life and death or light and darkness. Balancing yin (shaded) and yang (sunlit) is where true harmony comes from. Human life is also made of opposite, like it is impossible to have good without bad, beauty without ugliness, and pleasure without pain. Daoists taught that living the way of nature is living a simple life in quiet meditation. They would say that nothing in nature strives for fame, power, and knowledge, just like people should not feel self important or strive for possession and honor, but they should take whatever good comes their way. Also, the Daoists believed that everybody must discover the way for themselves. Therefore too many laws and social rules only get in the way of following the Doa, so the best rulers are the ones who rule the least.

Legalism
Legalism is the philosophy that gave different answers to problems in the government than Daoism and Confucianism. The founder of Legalism was Hanfeizi (Han-fei-tzu), he was mostly concerned on creating peace and order in society. Legalism was based upon the idea of people naturally being selfish. Legalists say that people always pursue their own self interest; therefore they could not be relied on to have a good influence on each other. With this being said it was not enough for rulers to set a good example, but for them to establish strict laws and punishments. Civil servants would be watched carefully and be punished for a poor job done, and people that were caught criticizing would be sent to the far northern border. Rulers would trust no one not even their family and would have absolute power with backup from the military to prevent rulers from being overthrown.