ABSTRACT
There’s a saying in China: “The three teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism are like the legs of a tripod; you cannot lack even one.” Though this was first spoken more than 1,000 years ago, it underscores the importance of these three traditional philosophies in Chinese culture, even today. Xiao or filial piety, is one of the most important Confucian values, and has been used to teach children in East Asia how to respect and care for their parents and ancestors for thousands of years. The Daoist idea of “letting things take their own natural course” is still a very popular belief in China. Meanwhile, the Chinese language itself has more than 500 idioms that reflect Buddhist teachings and principles, such as, “Good deeds create good karma, and bad deeds create bad karma” (Zhu, 2006). These three traditional philosophies served as the primary sources for guidance in China’s moral education until the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the official basis for moral education in China comes from Communist ideology, though it is clear from the examples above that Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism still remain influential to a certain extent in Chinese society. In this chapter we will introduce these philosophies and then explore their perspectives on moral education. More specifically, we will introduce each major philosophy, the moral values it promotes, the goals of moral cultivation it sets, and the pathways through which one can reach these goals, as well as major implications for moral education.
