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EALC-E251 / HIST-H237 – Class Reading – Spring 2011 • R. Eno schools of thought in early china: Confucianism and Daoism Chinas oldest and most influential system of thought is called Confucianism, after its founder, Confucius (Kong Qiu, 551-479 B.C.). The most sustained and influential response to Confucianism was the system of thought known as Daoism. These two schools of thought are so central to Chinese culture and history that we need to spend some focused time discussing each. confucianism The political background of Confucianism We saw in our discussion of the Eastern Zhou period that during those five centuries, the hold of the privileged elite on power and prestige gradually began to decline. During this long period, two central intellectual questions arose in response to the social change that undermined the monopoly on social advantage that hereditary status had enjoyed. 1) How should the privileges of hereditary status be balanced against the merits of personal talent and accomplishment; 2) What sorts of talents and accomplishments should be considered to be meritorious? It is against the background of these two questions that the ideology of Confucianism arose. Confucianism answered these questions in a way different from society at large. Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.; the Chinese form of his name is Kong Qiu), lived during this transition of Chinese society. He saw, as did everyone else of his day, how the demand for talent was undercutting the exclusive privileges of heredity. Confucius was a strong advocate of the priority of merit over birth – he and his followers were all members of the shi class. But he was dismayed by many aspects the changes he observed. The types of “merit” that received the grea