Confucianism Vs Daoist Government

CONFUCIANIST AND DAOIST GOVERNMENT FOUNDATIONS
Scriptures from both the Confucianist and Daoist perspectives on ideal governments and individual life styles mainly depict the two religions in a contrasting manner, but they also reveal some similarities in their purposes. While both religions ultimately seek attainment of a flawless society through the betterment of their people, they accomplish this through much different means: a strict government based on filial piety within Confucianism and a more lax system centered around unity and morality within Daoism. Comparing the scriptures of both faiths allows an almost exact means of understanding their values and religious basis for the creation of their social systems, such as government
According to the Analects, or the scripture within the main Confucian book, benevolence is the most principal of the religion's virtues, including empathy, humanity, love and thoughtfulness (ibid, 137, 144). The faith states that men who wish to consider themselves of superior nature should not only carry out these attributes through right actions, but also be properly motivated with the correct mindset while executing them (ibid, 144, 145).
While the Confucianist faith considers "filiality and fraternal submission" as "the root of all benevolent actions", and therefore the basis of becoming virtuous, the religion places great emphasis on their attainment and practice in order to become a Jun-zi, or superior man (ibid, 143). Knowing one's place within the five relationships and actively participating in them, or understanding the rectification of names is the religion's central means in obtaining order (ibid, 145). Including the ruler-subject, friend-friend, husband-wife, elder brother-younger brother, and most importantly, the father-son foundation relationships, followers of the Confucianist religion all have specific roles to which they must abide, unlike those in Daoism (ibid,
Believing that the success of their society as a whole depends on their government, and that the government's success depends on the people and their morals, the Daoist religion creates a cyclical concept that puts more power on the individual to create his own society through what is considered the "quietist approach"—the "opposite of the [Confucianist] activist approach" (ibid, 170). Employing the method of "non-action to win the world", or create a harmonious social system, Daoism asserts that "people [will] transform…and govern themselves" when the Sages essentially do nothing (ibid, 170). Focusing on the idea of keeping a "natural order", the scripture states that "the Sage helps all beings find their nature" by not interfering, which leads to the creation of three political opinions including "withdrawal from public life, mild participation in [society], and…participation in anarchy" (ibid, 170, 171). Instead of imposing rules and obligations on individuals as in Confucianism, the society essentially allows the people to direct themselves in creating their government. In contrast to the well-educated and rule-abiding superior man of the Confucian religion, the Daoist scripture states that ideal members of society embrace characteristics of contentment in minimalistic