Religion
During the Zhou dynasty there wasn’t anyone dominant religion as there was in the Shang Empire. There was still the belief of ancestors and a life after death but instead of the focus being on a single dominant god; it was more on Heaven itself. An example of this was the Mandate of Heaven which was the justification that the Zhou gave for deposing the Shang. It was the belief that the gods deemed the Shang unfit to rule and charged the Zhou with the command to conquer them. Later, philosophy took a strong hold in China, and the major forms of philosophy can be broken down into three parts.
Confucianism
K’ung-Fu-tzu, known in the West as Confucius, was born in 551 B.C.E. and is considered one of the most influential people in Chinese history. Confucius believed that an order should be established where everyone had a part in the government. For the established order to function efficiently, all that was needed was for each person to know and keep his place, to perform his duty, and to respect traditional culture. Much of Confucian doctrine relied on personal integrity, and this integrity would lead to good government and benevolent use of authority.
Daoism
Daoism was another major philosophy, relating to Confucianism but not as politically and was focused on the wisdom of living simply as possible and allowing the world to take its course without interference. A major figure in Daoism is Lao-tzu, very little is known about him just that he advocated Daoism and the Dao, or the ‘way’ that life should be lived.
Legalism
Legalism was a philosophy that there should be an order that effected all equally. That this order would give way to wealth and a naturally powerful centralized government. The Emperors often favored this, but it wasn’t popular with the general public.
http://www.education.com/study-help/article/ancient-history-china-zhou-dynasty/
During the Zhou dynasty there wasn’t anyone dominant religion as there was in the Shang Empire. There was still the belief of ancestors and a life after death but instead of the focus being on a single dominant god; it was more on Heaven itself. An example of this was the Mandate of Heaven which was the justification that the Zhou gave for deposing the Shang. It was the belief that the gods deemed the Shang unfit to rule and charged the Zhou with the command to conquer them. Later, philosophy took a strong hold in China, and the major forms of philosophy can be broken down into three parts.
Confucianism
K’ung-Fu-tzu, known in the West as Confucius, was born in 551 B.C.E. and is considered one of the most influential people in Chinese history. Confucius believed that an order should be established where everyone had a part in the government. For the established order to function efficiently, all that was needed was for each person to know and keep his place, to perform his duty, and to respect traditional culture. Much of Confucian doctrine relied on personal integrity, and this integrity would lead to good government and benevolent use of authority.
Daoism
Daoism was another major philosophy, relating to Confucianism but not as politically and was focused on the wisdom of living simply as possible and allowing the world to take its course without interference. A major figure in Daoism is Lao-tzu, very little is known about him just that he advocated Daoism and the Dao, or the ‘way’ that life should be lived.
Legalism
Legalism was a philosophy that there should be an order that effected all equally. That this order would give way to wealth and a naturally powerful centralized government. The Emperors often favored this, but it wasn’t popular with the general public.
http://www.education.com/study-help/article/ancient-history-china-zhou-dynasty/
