Daoism and Legalism PDF

While Daoism and Legalism are both effective to rule society with, Legalism more effectively creates order and harmony because with Legalism’s harsh punishments and significant rewards, citizens could be more motivated to follow the rules and fulfill their duties. Daoism would be effective to rule...

While Daoism and Legalism are both effective to rule society with, Legalism more effectively creates order and harmony because with Legalism’s harsh punishments and significant rewards, citizens could be more motivated to follow the rules and fulfill their duties. Daoism would be effective to rule society because the Daoist lifestyle allows people to find their inner peace with nature. From a Daoist perspective, order can be achieved in the land by allowing citizens to go about their lives naturally with no harsh restrictions or punishments. This would allow people to be calmer, happier overall and live with a stronger feeling of tranquility, where no one would commit crimes. Harmony can be created by living a balanced life, symbolized by the Yin Yang. Observing nature and knowing that if you disrespect nature, it will disrespect you is also part of how Daoism creates a harmonious society. Legalism would be effective to rule society with because its strict rules and punishments motivate people to do the right thing for the society. Some examples of these punishments include fines, beatings or even the death sentence. From a Legalist perspective, Order is achieved in society by the leaders existing at the top of the hierarchy, while the citizens are hierarchized according to wealth. This would allow people to learn their responsibilities. According to Legalism beliefs, everyone is born evil, and for harmony to be present, the government should install rewards for people who reported crimes to them. This would motivate citizens to fight for a peaceful society, which creates harmony. Of the two philosophies, Legalism would be the most effective philosophy to rule society with because it better motivates citizens to do the right thing towards the society, creating peace. Order can more efficiently be created with Legalism than Daoism due to the fact that there is an absence of government motivation to create peace when practicing Daoism. This lack of motivation might cause crimes to occur more often because there are no punishments nor government in a Daoist society. On the other hand, Legalism creates order in society more efficiently because of its punishments for disobeying the government’s orders. This would cause people to fear punishment, and subsequently, follow the rules. Harmony can more efficiently be created with Legalism than Daoism due to the fact that in a Daoist society, citizens focus on individually finding the Dao (the Way), while Legalism focuses more on controlling society. When ruling a larger community, not having concrete rules might prevent harmony from being created. In Legalism; however, the government believed that people are naturally selfish, and to satisfy the thought needs of the citizens, installed significant rewards for doing good deeds and reporting crimes. This practice minimizes the amount of crime, and creates harmony because everyone words together to keep the society peaceful and harmonious.