Confucian

The three famous philosophers of Confucianism are Confucius, who is the founder of this school, Mencius, and Hsun Tzu. Confucius cared a lot about man, and human interactions. Confucianism is more of the nature of ethics and the code of honor. The basic principle of Confucian ethic is jen, which means human-heartedness, benevolence, or humanity in English. This also means being true to one's moral nature and treating others as one would himself like to be treated.

Even though Confucians took their philosophy mostly from Confucius, they still had some different opinions on some things like the human nature. Mencius believed that man is naturally good. We are born with benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. For Mencius, a leader should be a great man who shares his good nature with his fellows. So the first concern for all rulers was to satisfy the needs of the people. The ruler was a servant of the people, and we only needed to obey them when they served us well. To Hsun Tzu, man is by nature selfish. Civil and religious rites, law, and government exist only because human nature is evil. The good nature of men is a result of cultivation. Hsun Tzu believes that education can help us to explore the good side of human nature.

Mencius emphasized righteousness, and Hsun Tzu , propriety (rites and rules). Mencius' outlook is moralistic, while Hsun Tzu's is legalistic. Mencius considered the democracy to be the ideal form of and Hsun Tzu favoured the authoritarian approach. To Mencius', education was to strengthen the minds, but to Hsun Tzu it was to discipline the human nature. Therefore, Mencius warms one's heart and Hsun Tzu strengthens one's mind.