
Published online:
10 November 2020
Published in print:
14 January 2021
Online ISBN:
9780190097479
Print ISBN:
9780199328369
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Mozi and Mencius Mozi and Mencius
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Laozi Laozi
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Zhuangzi Zhuangzi
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The Han Feizi and the Legalists The Han Feizi and the Legalists
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Bibliography Bibliography
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Chapter
31 Confucius, Mencius, and Their Daoist-Legalist Critics
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Moss Roberts
Moss Roberts
East Asian Studies, New York University
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Moss Roberts, New York University
Pages
672–684
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Published:10 November 2020
Cite
Roberts, Moss, 'Confucius, Mencius, and Their Daoist-Legalist Critics', in Elizabeth Childs-Johnson (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Early China (2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, 10 Nov. 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328369.013.32, accessed 8 May 2025.
Abstract
Warring Kingdoms thought divides into a humanist tradition (Analects and Mencius), a naturalist tradition (Daoism), and an institutional tradition (Mohism and Legalism). The humanist tradition is based on charismatic leadership with a strong moral (de, virtue) content. The Naturalists situate the social in the biological and subordinate it to the biological, emphasizing the concepts of ziran and wanwu (all things created by Dao, each one of which must fulfill its own unique nature). The institutionalists place human society under a rule of bureaucratic law (fa) guided by an administrative rather than a charismatic leader.
Keywords:
Analects, Confucius, junzi, Daoism, Dao, li ritual, ren love of mankind, tian heaven, de virtue, xiao filial service and devotion, fa law, Legalism, xing human nature, jianai comprehensive love, yi right or righteous, ziran nature, wanwu all creation or things, guo kingdom, jia family or clan, warring kingdom
Series
Oxford Handbooks
Collection:
Oxford Handbooks Online
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