Page 139 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

As war changed, so did schools of thought. The most famous school to form came from a
man who would eventually be called Confucius, the founder of Confucianism. Originally, an
unsuccessful bureaucrat but an extremely successful teacher, he began teaching through the form
of anecdotes about ritual, filial piety, reciprocity, benevolence, and rectification of names during
the Spring and Autumn period. His teachings would eventually be compiled in a text known as
the Analects. Analects were a collection of conversations between Confucius and his students. In
a small excerpt on filial piety, Confucius states, , “if in three years after his death you have not
deviated from your father’s ways… considered a filial child.”14 Another contributor to
Confucianism was a man during the Warring States period known as Mencius. Mencius would
add to the teachings of Confucius with a focus more on the natural goodness of human nature. As
Confucianism began to form, another school of thought began as well: Daoism, with the Laozi,
the classical text of Daoism. Daoism is following the Way without desire. To follow the Way, a
person must live a life without desires. Daoism was a response to the way in which the
development of civilization leads to desires and eventually leads to conflict, culminating in the
Warring States period.15

The Warring States period lasted from 481 BCE to 221 BCE. The Zhou became ever less
important in the workings of the kingdom, and with the last hegemon dying the states began to
fight wars of conquest to increase their strength. One such nation was Qin, who utilized
Legalism to field numerous military units of disciplined soldiers from recruited farmers.
Legalism occurred through the works of Lord Shang, an advisor in the state of Qin. Shang
believed that a strong government required a strong institutional structure and necessary action
when required without a second thought, as opposed to the moral qualities of ministers and rulers

14 "Analects: Filial Piety," in Chinese Civilization, 20.
15 Dr. Larry Israel, “TCDAOISM”, Lecture, 2018.

138