Lao Tzu And Confucianism

In the early 8th century BCE, the Chinese Zhou dynasty lost control of its vast domain, marking the beginning of the chaotic and violent Spring and Autumn Period. Several hundred city states competed against each other to gain control over the other. During the constant warfare, people began to search for solutions to build a better government which could maintain peace and prevent such instability from occurring again. Two philosophies, Confucianism and Taoism, described in the respective Analects by Confucius and the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, emerged in the 6th Century BCE as potential remedies to the issue, and both remain prominent in modern eastern philosophy. While both Confucius and Lao Tzu address the same issue of political instability within 6th century BCE Chinese society by restricting personal ambition, Confucius argues for education, the allowance of virtuous work for

Lao Tzu stresses a return to man’s “natural state” through deliberate ignorance, the forfeiture of all personal desire, and a limited government. These works demonstrated the societal fear of inter-Chinese warfare and government breakdown stemming from the damaging personal greed of warlords and ineffective central authority. Although both philosophers approached the issue from different perspectives on human nature, both agreed that the fundamental cause of internal strife was greed and unhealthy ambition. Lao Tzu wrote, “throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves.” In other words, people who work for a reward are selfish and pose a threat to society. In this case, he is referencing the greed of the individual warlords who viewed the