Confucianism and Taoism: The Shaping Philosophies of China

PHILOSOPHY IN CHINA
CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM
Eastern society is an enigma to many Westerners. Its cultural and technical traditions vary so greatly from those of western thought. What influences shaped China, the largest eastern civilization? It is said that the basis of western thought stems from the ideas and principles set out by Socrates and Plato and their contemporaries. In a similar vein it can be said that Confucian and Taoist principles are the basis of eastern thinking. It may not be so evident today, as technology shrinks our world, and western thought, carried on the back of c…