Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Comparison Essay

There are many similarities and differences between the three ways of life we have been studying for the past week. Each has its own unique purpose and type of people. Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism all have similar and different qualities. I will explain similarities and differences in this essay.

The basic beliefs and concepts of Confucianism are similar to Taoism in the sense that they want peace and good behavior. The Buddhists, on the other hand, strictly have the purpose to reach Nirvana and follow the four noble truths. The overall goal of Confucian is different than Buddhism and Taoism because the overall goal of the Confucius is to find their peaceful and harmonious place in life, while the two others have no overall goal. The goal of the individual believer is similar in Confucianism and Buddhism because they each follow a certain behavior and want to be in harmony with nature. The Tao just have to follow the life according to the Tao.

All of the three beliefs have a different view on life. The Confucians believe that you should be improved by education and development of your character. The Tao believed that the life you lived with the Tao ways was good and following society’s ways was very bad. The Buddhist believe that there will always be negativity in life, and that all life has a lot of suffering in it. Therefore, you cannot change that. This is why the Buddhists think reincarnation is a bad thing.

There is a similar bond between the Confucians and the Tao in the category rules and behavior. They both believe that you must act accordingly in some way. These two are different also in the sense that Tao believe the life is to be lived according to the Tao and Confucians believe to live it according to actions. Also, the Confucians believed you need to understand the relationship with family, and to follow the five goals of Confucianism. The Buddhists had a totally different idea for this though… they believe that you just need to follow behavior in the ways of the eightfold path and the nine precepts.

In the category of view of society, each belief has a different view. The Confucians believed that you develop good character through a good life and that everyone has their own role. The Tao’s thought society to be negative. They believed that it was artificial and went against all beliefs of the Tao. The Buddhist’s usually have an explanation and opinion for everything, but in this case they didn’t.

Each belief influenced China in a unique way. The Confucians influenced the basis of society, family structure, and the government for thousands of years. The Tao influenced the poetry types Li-Po and TuFu. The Buddhists influenced China by the improvement of landscape painting and that was pretty much it.

As you can see Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are very different, but at the same time they are very similar. Each belief has its unique view on basic beliefs, overall goals, goals of the individual believer, view of life, rules of behavior, views of society and influence on China. Even though some of the views are negative it is the only way the people of that belief know.

Word Count: 548