Balancing One Another

Question: As Smith tells us, many people adhere to BOTH Confucianism and Taoism at once.  Based on what you have read in Smith, and the excerpts from the texts that you have read in Novak, what do you think are the most important beliefs and practices of Confucianism and Taoism?  How do you suppose adherents could do both at once?

Confucianism believed in a social nature; subjects respect their rulers, children respect their parents, wives respect their husbands, the younger respects their elders, and a friend respects a friend.  However, it was not totally authoritarian because rulers, parents, husbands, elders, and friends would all protect their subjects, children, wives, younger, and friends.  Also, the subject, child, wife, younger, and friend, in some cases, could correct their ruler, parent, husband, elder, or friend.The most important belief for Confucianism seeks to be fully harmonized and making ourselves more human; education was key.  God was not a critical way of becoming fully harmonized.  The goal was to become a junzi, someone who knows their place in the social nature.  For example, someone who realizes they are the wife to a husband, a parent to a child, and a friend to a friend.  They are someone always striving to do better.  Ren is the ideal relationship among humans, being compassionate and loving towards one another.  Li is the practice, it is doing the right thing.  Li is used in day-to-day human interactions.  Li is in relationship to ren and is used accordingly to the social nature and helps to become fully harmonized.

Taoism is in a sense the opposite to Confucianism, taoist break away from the social nature.  Taosim believes that becoming a junzi takes away from the living part of life.  They believe there is an energy force they call chi and nature is what drives chi.  For humans to stay in touch with their chi they must do healthy practices.  A way to increase the chi is by meditation and by observation. The taoist follow the wu wei which is going with the way things are suppose to be.  To become a real human who is spontaneous, silly, and genuine is a term taoist call zhenren.

The balance of ying and yang.

Their is saying that every Chinese wears a Confucian hat, Taoist robes, and Buddhist sandals.  So it is not how could they do both but how followers do all three.  One is not complete with the other because they each have their own lesson within.  All three together make a balance.  Confucianism helps the Chinese with their everyday life, ethically and publicly.  Taoism is within yourself, so it is a more private matter.  Lastly, Buddhism is at the time of death for Chinese.  Each one is done by what part of life we are experiencing or at the moment doing circling one another as ying and yang.