Mr. J Wol

Global – TUV

The Philosophies of the Han Synthesis

The Han Synthesis was a governing philosophy that incorporated aspects of previously developed Chinese philosophies. Those three underlyingphilosophies were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Each philosophy contributed to the Han Empire in its own way. Each aspect of the philosophies is what made the Han Empire able to thrive.Confucianism, one of the three philosophies that formed the Han Synthesis, is the philosophy that social order, harmony, and good government should be based on family relationships. It taught that gentlemanshould practice reverence, generosity, truthfulness, diligence and kindness. The emperor of the Han Dynasty believed that these qualities made a person worthy of a government position. With this inmind he set up a school where people could learn about Confucianism. Then, if the students wanted to, they could apply for a government position by taking a test. If the emperor thought the student wasfit for the position, the student would get the job. Because mostly Confucians ran the government, the society became very family oriented. Children had to respect their elders, a woman had to obeyher husband and his parents, and no matter what, one always had to put family first. Although Confucianism made up a great part of the Han Empire, Daoism was another important philosophy that wasincorporated into the Han Synthesis.
Daoism is based on the concept that people should be guided by a universal force called the Dao. In other words Daoism taught that sometimes you need to relax and justlet things happen as nature intended them to. The Han Empire believed that if one got stressed from work they could take a small “vacation.” It was like being a Daoist on the weekends, and workinghard during the week. When the people of the Han Empire took these small “vacations,” one was to participate in activities that would put their mind at ease such as painting or even taking a simple...