THREE CHINESE PHILOSOPHIES(ZHOU DYNASTY 1045-256 B.C.E)

By: Sid Patra, Noel Oracheski, and Alex Lampell

Zhou Dynasty (1045-256 B.C.E) After overthrowing the Shang, the Zhou

made the Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven said that the

king was the son of Heaven If the king governed his people well then

Heaven would give him the right to rule If the king governed badly then Heaven

would send natural disasters and his people could overthrow him

Photos of Zhou Dynasty

Feudalism The Zhou had a system of relationships

called feudalism In feudalism the king gave part of his

land to loyal supporters (lords) In exchange the lords sent soldiers to

protect the king The lord protected the peasants that

lived in his land in exchange of a portion of their crops

Conflicts in Zhou Dynasty Feudalism worked for a while, but then

there started to be rebellions against the king

Then rulers hired scholars to ask them for advice about how to govern

So many ideas were offered that later the Chinese called them the Hundred Schools of Thought

The three most popular schools were Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism

Confucianism The founder of Confucianism is Confucius(551-479 B.C.E) The goal of Confucianism is to have a just and peaceful

society In Confucianism you should respect your elders In Confucianism there are five basic relationships: ruler and

subject, husband and wife, father and son, older siblings and younger siblings, and friend and friend

All people must respect and obey these relationships People that have the authority with these relationships

(rulers, fathers, husbands, and older siblings) should set a good example. They should be kind, honest, wise, and faithful

Confucius used to say, “Don’t do to others what you would not want done to you”

There is a book with all of Confucius sayings. It is called The Analects

So Confucianism thought that the “best way to govern is to lead by example”

Photos of Confucianism

Daoism The founder of Daoism is Laozi (around 500 B.C.E.) Laozi wrote a small manuscript of 5,000 characters which is

called the Dao De Jing Daoism teaches people that you gain happiness and peace by

living in harmony and agreement with nature For the Daoists nature is full of opposites (like pleasure and

pain) They believed that true harmony came from balancing these

opposite forces These two forces are called yin and yang Yin means shaded and Yang means sunlit Daoists thought that people should live a simple and natural

life They also believed that everyone must discover the Dao by

themselves So Daoism thought that the best way to govern was “if you

must govern, then govern the least as possible”

Photos of Daoism

Legalism The founder of Legalism is Hanfeizi(280-233 B.C.E.) The goal of Hanfeizi was to create peace and order in

soceity Many of his ideas survived until today in a book named

after him Legalism thought that most people are naturally selfish Legalism thought that rulers should establish strict laws

and make them stronger by giving rewards for good behavior and harsh punishments for bad behavior

In Legalism rulers have absolute power and are backed up by the military

They thought that rulers should not trust anyone, not even the family

Photos of Legalism

The End of The Zhou Empire

Around 256 B.C.E. the Zhou Empire fell It was overpowered by Prince Zheng of

the Qin Empire In the battle between the Qin and the

Zhou millions of lives were lost

Bibliography History Alive Book Images from Google

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