Differences Between Confucianism And Daoism

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Religion is an important component in almost every culture and civilization. There have been countless wars throughout the world over what religion should be dominant in any given region, and in most cases one or another ultimately prevails. However, East Asia has been able to maintained three distinct religions for centuries without any substantial conflict. Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Daoism are practiced and accepted equally among the people who live there.
Each of these exists concurrently with the others because there are no incompatible differences between the three: the practical applications of each to the East Asian culture are much the same.
Confucianism has changed little over its’ history and continues to be practiced today
according …show more content…
In both of these teachings they are focused on the dao (Cheng, 124). This is the path in which they should follow. Both Confucianism and
Daoism give ways in which one should follow this said path, but both ways are a little different.
Confucianism’s way is a little more strict and exact, while Daoism is more imaginative and lenient (Vuong, 2012). Both believe in opposing and complimentary forces, Yin and Yang. They believe that each balances the other out and that they help to make everything work harmoniously (Cheng, 124). Yang is considered masculine, hard, dry, bright, and aggressive, while Yin is considered to be more feminine, soft, moist, dark, and accommodating (Oxtoby &
Segal, 456). Confucianism’s teachings are normally considered more Yang, while Daoism’s are considered more Yin; in a way they balance one another out (Vuong, 2012). Neither Daoism nor
Confucianism speaks much of an afterlife; they are both focused more on how one should live their own lives while here on Earth.
There are many connections between these three religions that help them to work side by side. Some overlaps in the Daoist and Buddhist practices exist; such as a Daoist text …show more content…
Also, Ouyi a “syncretist” believed that Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism all share the same origins and he interpreted Confucianism in Buddhist terms by matching
Confucius ideas with Buddhist ones (Lo, 274). These connections are possible another possible explanation for why these three religions have survived together in this region for so long.
In addition to their basic similarities, only Buddhism is necessarily a religion. While
Confucianism and Daoism are practiced as religions by some (Oxtoby & Segal, 468), it is probably more often they are practiced as philosophies, rather than true religions. The fact that they are practiced as philosophies and have no conflicting deities or godhead per se, there is no
“who is god?” dilemma to prevent them from flourishing alongside the Buddhist religious beliefs and practices. One can practice Buddhism while still bettering themselves as people through one of the other two
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