Differences And Similarities Between Ta Hsueh And Yung

The period between roughly 1200 BCE and 400 BCE saw the emergence of a remarkable diversity of religious and philosophical thought, which described and explained the place and role of humans in the cosmos. Confucianism is one of the main influences of ancient China. Plato is one of the most well known philosophers of his time. Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung are two of the most influential pieces written by Confucius that influenced the people of the Zhou dynasty. Some of the similarities and differences between the role of human action and behavior in the universe are described in Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung and the philosophical thought of Plato from classical Greece. Plato’s philosophy and the Confucian texts of Ta Hsueh and Chun Yung both equally influenced their respective empires through the people and the culture.

Confucius was one of the most well known philosophers of ancient China, and probably the most influential.

Confucius wanted people to be the best that they can be. Because of this idea, Confucius thought that people should one get power when they were good and skilled, and not because they came from powerful families that make up the dynasties. In the Ta Hsueh, Confucius talks about how people should act towards one another. I quote, “Thus, where the man of mean character takes his delight only in his own delights and his profit only from what profits himself, the man of noble character honors those of honorable worth and treats as kin those of kindred spirit around him” (Plaks and Yao 2003, 9). Confucius wanted people to think about other people more than, about what they owned. He wanted to build a community in the Zhou dynasty. He always wanted the best for people and that everyone should work hard to achieve their

goals.
Some people, particularly those who followed Taoism, did not accept Confucius’s ideas. Taoism is the beliefs that were preached by Dao De Jing. The word Tao, when translated, means the way. One of the ideas that was disputed is the idea that people have to make themselves better. This is mainly an idea from Confucius. According to Dao, there is no reason to better yourself and that you just are what you are and I quote, “Nature is everlasting because it does not have a Self. In this way the sage: Serves his Self last and finds it served first; Sees his body as accidental and finds it endures. Because he does not serve his Self, he is content” (Jing n.d., 3). Confucius have remain very influential to most people in that time.
Plato was one of the most well known philosophers of Classical Greece. He was a student of Socrates and many historians have studied his philosophies. “The Republic” is a philosophy of what Plato calls, "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato focus on the social settings of his ideal republic - those that lead each person to the perfect possible life for him. In the Republic, he says, “For men born and educated like our citizens, the only way, in my opinion, at arriving at a right conclusion about the possession and use of women and children is to follow the path on which we originally started, when we said that the men were to be the guardians and watchdogs of the herd” (Plato 2012, 58). What he means by this statement is that men are the ones, that should be the leader and be the strong thinkers, and that women must follow men. This common ideology existed back then. As someone reads The Republic and tries to see what Plato is saying, he/she would start to understand what Plato's model society would look like. The basic plan of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being.
There are many similarities between Confucius and Plato. Both of them taught through means of dialogue, which meant that they spoke in a way to preach their ideas and to get people to direct definitions. Both advocated contemplation and education as the means for moral attainment, and both sought to balance contemplation with service. Some of the similarities with Plato and Confucius is their philosophies about the purpose of every human living on earth.
Much of Confucius’s teachings focused on the art of government and how a ruler should act. He developed a concept of a moral statecraft in which he advised the ruler how to appear just in order to gain the trust of the people. Plato does not ask the people to trust his governors. Confucius argued for true justice and compassion on the part of the ruler and the ruled. Only by being a just ruler would the ruler enjoy the continued right to rule.
As with his social teachings, Confucius believed that the key to good governance lay in each man carrying out his duties as prescribed by his position within the hierarchy. He stated: ‘Good government consists in the ruler being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son.’ Plato had a similar opinion, although it emphasized a different social issue. He wanted one man, one job to prevail, so that there would be no competition. E.g. if your soul was a baker’s soul, you would be obliged to be a baker. He did not consider that there might be 500 baker’s souls being born in his state!
While Confucius and Plato share a few similarities in their philosophies, there are many differences between the two philosophers. For example, Confucius said that the ruler must possess virtue. Virtue would enable the ruler to retain the supreme position. ‘He who governs by means of his virtue is, to use an analogy, like the pole-star: it remains in its place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.’ Remarkably, Confucius believed that rulers should not have to resort to force or the threat of punishment to maintain power. He said: ‘Your job is to govern, not to kill.’ As in the case of social relationships such as those between parents and children, husbands and wives, Confucius believed that the rulers should observe proper ritual in order to maintain their position and right to rule. He viewed education as important to achieving proper conduct both within Society and in Government. In Ta Hsueh, there is a line that relates to how people have to work to get what they want. I quote, “If one’s way gains the confidence of the multitudes, then he will gain sway over the realm; but should he lose the confidence of the multitudes, he will lose his kingdom” (Plaks and Yao 2003, 16). Confucius believed that people, desire to live in the company of other people, that is, in society. It is only in society that people reach their fullest development. Therefore, it is important for a ruler to know how to provide the opportunities for the people to follow their inclinations towards self-development.
Plato differs in being more complicated in his philosophy than Confucius is. Therefore, to simplify his teachings is not easy. Nevertheless, you will get by, if you take notice of these two important points: In Plato’s political philosophy, The Republic, the governors are a plurality. There is no king, prince, or despot. All governors are equal to each other. They can come from any social level at all. Their training is lifelong, and they are secluded from society, in order to prevent that they are corrupted by having personal interests and friendships.
Another difference between the two philosophers is the eras that they are from; Confucius lived from 551-478 BCE while Plato lived from 427-348 BCE. While this is a minor thing since they have similar philosophies, it makes it difficult to compare. Another difference is the subject of leadership. Confucius preached that leaders can be anyone that works hard while Plato says that only philosophers can become leaders.
When it comes to influence, Confucius is more influential than Plato is. The reason is that Confucius’s ideas are still relevant today and it has been incorporated into the Chinese culture and their government. Confucianism was still used in China until the 20th century. Plato was not very influential. Actually most people did not agree with Plato on what he thought was the ideal republic. Most people would agree that Plato’s republic sounded less like a republic and more like a totalitarian state.
Plato’s philosophy and the Confucian texts of Ta Hsueh and Chun Yung both equally influenced their respective empires through the people and the culture. I went through how Confucianism is one of the main influences of ancient China. I also talked about how Plato is one of the most well known philosophers of his time. I mentioned that Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung are two of the most influential pieces written by Confucius that influenced the people of the Zhou dynasty. I have talked about how some of the similarities and differences between the role of human action and behavior in the universe are described in Ta Hsueh and Chung Yung and the philosophical thought of Plato from classical Greece. This concludes my essay.