SARMIENTO, SAMANTHA NICOLE T.

December 15, 2017

12-HUMSS-17 MR. JULIUS CABASAG
WORLD RELIGION
QUIZ #3

Is living a virtuous life both a Taoist and Confucian teaching?

Taoism and Confucianism are example of way of living which explains the
right of living of an individual, however the two has its own differences. Taoism is
philosophical tradition of Chinese which emphasizes the living in harmony with
“Tao”. “Tao” is a Chinese word for key, path or way which emphasizes the weak
over the strong, and the balance of life of the Taoists. This tradition was
introduced by Lao Tzu who is a Chinese philosopher and teacher. On the other
hand, Confucianism is also a way of life which is based on traditions, philosophy,
religion, education and culture and way of life of the Chinese. It was explained by
Confucius who was a Chinese teacher, he told the people that in order to have a
good way of living, you must have a good governance and good education.

Both religion or philosophical teachings embodies the way of righteous

living. Both has its own kinds of beliefs, Taoism teaches us that in order to have
a righteous life we must have the balance in everything. We have to see the
good and bad in every aspect of life that we cannot control. It teaches us the “Yin
Yang”, the balance of life, and “Wu Wei”, which means non-action wherein it tells
the people to let things to be it, that we have to let the happenings itself. Taoism
is also about the freedom of an individual and finding one’s self. It teaches us
that we have to embrace everything that life is offering to us, whether it is good or
bad, because it is a blessing and we cannot control it.

Confucianism teaches us that in order to have a righteous life we have to

follow traditions, which can be the guide in terms of living, have a good education
so that you are not ignorant in your surroundings, and to have a good
governance, because for Confucius good governance is from having a good
education. Practicing good governance will result to a good leadership that will
lead the people in to a righteous life. For him, in order to have a good
governance and good education, one must exercise the following ideals: Ren
(human heartedness), Li (propriety), Zhi (wisdom), Yi (righteousness) and Xin
(loyalty). These explains that living in a Confucian life is about dealing with other
people, by thinking about the other’s sake and not about being self-centered all
the time. Because for them, having a righteous life, it starts from the people who
you encounter with and the ones that surrounds you.
 To conclude, both Taoism and Confucianism is a way of having a
righteous living but in different aspects. But for me, living a virtuous life doesn’t
mean that you have to have a religion or you have to follow beliefs. It is in our
perspective in dealing with life, we can have our own beliefs and we can do
whatever we want to have our own righteous life, we don’t have to make
ourselves follow things that we don’t like to do.