Confucius Taoism Essay

Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Comparison Essay There are many similarities and differences between the three ways of life we have been studying for the past week.

Each has its own unique purpose and type of people.

The overall goal of Confucian is different than Buddhism and Taoism because the overall goal of the Confucius is to find their peaceful and harmonious place in life, while the two others have no overall goal.

The goal of the individual believer is similar in Confucianism and Buddhism because they each follow a certain behavior and want to be in harmony with nature.

The following is a discussion of the principles and philosophies behind these two religions as well as how the two religions interact and connect to influence an individual.

Confucianism is a religion that bases its philosophy and principles on the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese philosopher who lived between 551 and 478 BC. Confucian adherents have a positive view of human beings and human nature.They both believe that you must act accordingly in some way.These two are different also in the sense that Tao believe the life is to be lived according to the Tao and Confucians believe to live it according to actions.The basic beliefs and concepts of Confucianism are similar to Taoism in the sense that they want peace and good behavior.The Buddhists, on the other hand, strictly have the purpose to reach Nirvana and follow the four noble truths.The process of learning the names (ming) used in the doctrines helped one to make distinctions between good and evil, beautiful and ugly, high and low, and "being" (yu) and "non- being" (wu), thereby shaping desires.To abandon knowledge was to abandon names, distinctions, tastes, and desires.Also, the Confucians believed you need to understand the relationship with family, and to follow the five goals of Confucianism. Whatever the truth, Taoism and Confucianism have to be seen side-by-side as two distinct responses to the social, political and philosophical conditions of life two and a half millennia ago in China.The central vehicle of achieving tranquillity was the Tao, a term which has been translated as "the way" or "the path" ( Wing-Tsit Chan 736).Te in this context refers to virtue and Ching refers to laws.