Ideal Daoist Society Analysis

While attempting to figure out a good topic for my final paper, I reflected back to the question on our Midterm exam that asked us to give a comparison between our modern society and the ideal Daoist society. This question peaked my interest, which lead me to wonder how ideal societies differ throughout the world. I decided to compare the differences between the perfect society as described in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia to the ideal Daoist society introduced in class by Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Obviously a society is made up of many different aspects, so I decided to focus on three main aspects: the structure of the society’s government, the education of the citizens within the society, and the society’s perspective on war. Each of these societies
A society’s goals and agendas rely on this major aspect since the answers to many questions can be influenced by this perspective. If a country is lacking resources or desires more land this perspective can play a crucial part in determining whether the society will go to war or will negotiate with neighboring countries for what it needs. Utopia attempts to avoid war as often as possible, since each city is a self-sustained civilization with strong walls and surrounded by farmland. In the event that a war is imminent and is unavoidable, the citizens of Utopia will attempt to use trickery and cunning over brute force. There is an example given that spies would be sent into the towns of the opposing society and propaganda would be started to attempt the townspeople to revolt against their seemingly oppressive rulers. Many would consider these tactics cheap and unfair, but the Utopians consider this the logical approach; why kill hundreds of people in a battle when the death of only a few people can solve the issue? In the event that the Utopians are victorious, they stress not to brag or disrespect the enemy soldiers or land in any way, enough damage has been done already and this much death and destruction is not a cause for celebration: “there is nothing more inglorious than that glory that is gained by war.” Surprisingly, the Daoist society mirrors this perspective almost exactly with maybe a few minor differences. In The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, it is said that “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” This idea mirrors that of the Utopian strategy of using trickery to avoid fighting altogether, since if a battle can be won without the need for the loss of lives that is the most beneficial outcome. In essence, both of these societies share an almost identical perspective on war, most likely attributed to the fact that