Zhuang Zi

Though there were never exact dates on Zhuang Zi's birthdate or the time he composed his works, it is believed that he was around during the forth century. There was never a central idea in his writings;  his works ranges from direct arguments to strange stories. "The Way" of Zhuang Zi is to be "still", relating back to non-action. The essence of Zhuang Zi is restoring one to natural state; the state of a new-born child. Zhuang Zi argued that education and self-cultivation divert one from the natural flow of the cosmos and the Heaven (tian).

Children in general are free from complications and pressure from society; therefore this brings them closer to the natural flow of order. However, this way of life can only provide short term relief since it is impossible for humans to live in a care-free society. Ideally, everyone lives a life that they can act according to their desires and submerge into life's flow. Though in the short run society may achieve a stress-free state, this cannot provide a sustainable society. Eventually, there will be no social order within society. If no one will like to work in the fields, how can a society feed themselves? Resources and food do not just pop out as part of nature's flow. Hence, "the Way" of Zhuang Zi cannot provide a sustainable lifestyle for one. It can act as a short-term reminder that reliefs stress from society.

Another important aspect of Zhuang Zi's philosophy is "change". Zhuang Zi view death as a transition in life. When a person dies, he/she is born into the world once more but in a different form; it may be a butterfly or other life forms. This idea is still present today in Chinese culture. As some believed that the daughter was the father's lover in their past life. Furthermore extending on the idea of transition in life, the idea ties to the mandate of Heaven as one's new life after death depends on one's action during his/her life time (karma). The act of kindness and righteousness mean that one will born into a better life in the next life-time. It is up to Heaven to decide whether or not one deserves a good or bad life.

Daoism and LaoZi

Among the "100 philosophers" during between the Spring Autumn and Warring State period, Lao Zi was known for "Dao De Jing" (Classics of the Way and its Power). His works was the beginning of "Daoism" or "Classical Daoism" (philosophical side). Though Daoism and Confucianism share much similarity in its history (developing a political system to bring harmony to the Warring States) and philosophies (cultivating oneself and finding harmony between heaven and people), Daoism shifted its focus towards "Nature".

One main idea of "Daoism" is "non-action"; the way to become a sage and find harmony is to live in society as a "natural being" and blend into nature. Another way to understand this is that humans should not act "outside of the box" and recklessly that would bend nature's flow. Daoism believed that to achieve "non-action" harmony, one should not try hard (or try at all) to adjust his/her life to live along with nature. A good analogy to describes "non-action" is improvising in jazz. A musician tends to play better with more feeling and naturally if he/she does not try as hard to harmonize with others or think too much about the melodies. This way allows the musician to improvise along with the natural flow of the progression and groove in the background.

However, a contradicting side of this is that a musician must spend countless hours of practicing and playing to achieve this. Without a solid foundation of music theory, scales, and a sense of rhythm, it is hard for a musician to improvise naturally and play along with the flow. Similar to sports, it takes countless hours to achieve a "muscle memory" state for a player. This contradicts the idea in "Daoism" that it takes no practice to achieve "non-action" or a natural state.

Xun Zi

Confucianism revolves around cultivating the way of a "jun zi" (righteousness/gentlemen) and developing a moral character. Since Confucius, these ideas have influenced later masters such as Menicius (Meng Zi), who argues that "human nature" itself is good. On the other hand, Xun Zi argued against Meng Zi that "human nature" is evil. However, Xun Zi believed that everyone has the potential to become a sage; the perfected form of a gentlemen. From this assumption, there is a larger presence of the religious aspect in Xun Zi's teachings. In a Western form, the sage is more of a person with un-natural power, who cannot be corrupted by the world and his "perfected" ways of a "jun zi" cannot be "bent".  These "powers" that Xun Zi described gave a mythical and god-like character to the sage.

Another idea that Xun Zi contradicts previous Confucianism philosophers is that it is not necessary for a son to follow his father. This is critical since Confucianism stresses on filial piety for a righteous person. According to Xun Zi, if a demand from a father would cause destruction and a different path could bring harmony, then the son should choose the path that would bring harmony. Though this may sound logical and practical, Confucius may argue that the father is perfect and wise; his words would not deceive and mislead his son. In the Analects, the father is often portrayed as the wiser character and the son still has lots to learn. The father, to Confucius, is also a teacher and therefore will not provide a corrupted path for his son. Otherwise, he would not be considered to be a father.