Confucianism And Daoism As Forms Of Philosophy And Religion

While Confucianism and Daoism as forms of philosophy and religion differ on many levels they share some level of basic similarities of understanding in the world. Surprisingly, in comparison to teachings in other religions, neither of these two religions have a creation myth in the traditional sense but instead believe that in the â€Å"state of â€Å"undifferentiated chaos†Ã¢â‚¬  (IWR, 280) that was all of existence, â€Å"two polar yet complementary energies known as qi (â€Å"breath†, â€Å"energy†, or â€Å"force†)† (IWR 280) had risen from it: yin and yang; continuously interacting and residing in most things in existence. One could not exist without the other, as they are what the other is not and are in a constant state of change. This concept had come to represent all things in existence that could be seen as binary, for instance hot and cold or day and night, but even though they are opposites they are still connected to each other and ev erything is still connected to the cosmos itself (IWR, 280). Humans are no different in the sense that yin and yang make up the physical manifestation that is the human body, though the immaterial self is made up of another binary: hun (representative of yang, purity, and upward-rising) and po (representative of yin, turgidity, and downward-sinking) (IWR, 281); once a person dies then both hun an po depart from the body to again be a part of future beings. As can be seen, both Confucianism and Daoism recognize and emphasize a â€Å"bipolar and complementary view† (IWR,Show MoreRelatedComparing Daoism and Confucianism681 Words   |  3 PagesYou can compare Daoism and Confucianism to yin and yang because they complement each other. 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