Distilling Philosophy Through Three Centuries: Philosophy for the Masses

Confucius teachings communicated strict ideals regarding government, filial piety and the requisite behavior of gentlemen in a condensed text, ‘The Analects”. Due to the nature of the text and its subject matter, Confucius ideals appealed largely to literate “men of moral cultivation ” and provided “advice to rulers” (Ebrey 19). However texts regarding Daoism, specifically “The Laozi”, describes an indefinable philosophy named ‘the way,” through utilizing a prose structure, ambiguous language and romantic analogies in an attempt to appeal to an expansive audience. As a result, the lyrical style of the prose and the relevancy of such philosophies to every day Chinese lives popularized this school of thought in the third century.

It is evident that the linguistic style of The Laozi was effective in introducing philosophy to the Chinese population and popularized philosophical literary works. Written three centuries later than Confucian manuscripts, “The Laozi” can be seen as a welcomed rectification of the earlier “The Analects”, which was written in an unsystematic manner. The “haphazardly arranged” style of the Analects was “memorized” (Ebrey 19) in vain by Confucian students and the educated, however the use of the past participles “Confucius said” and limited use of narrative made the pragmatic dialogue particularly monotonous and repetitive. Undoubtedly, “The Laozi” differs tremendously as it is written essentially in “elliptical” (Ebrey 27) prose and the vague language is open to interpretation. The Dao or “the way” is simply described as ‘The Way is eternally nameless” it’s “identity can be called a mystery”. (“Passages From Laozi,” Sourcebook, 27) adding to the perplexing nature of this school of thought. Improved literacy allowed the prose to be widely read, relatable and was readily accepted by many. Ebrey even goes as far to say that the philosophical text, “[enriched] Chinese lives and [gave] pleasure to people.” (Ebrey 27).

The utilization of...