make sure you can acsess Confucian Classics (the Book of Documents, the Analects, the Mencius, and the Xunzi) and the classics of Daoism (the Laozi and Zhuangzi) they are needed for the competion of this assignment

Read the attachment. The primary purpose of the first assignment is to have you read the basic texts of early Confucianism and Daoism. For this reason, you should read these texts as closely as you can before beginning to compose your essays! In order for you to compare and contrast their views of the good life and good government, I think I can give you some more specific guidelines:

Both Confucian and Daoist thinkers were primarily concerned with how to lead a good life in times of chaos (moral and existential questions), and how to achieve good government (political philosophical questions). Each of these thinkers (Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Laozi, and Zhuangzi) had different ideas and offered different solutions as to these problems. Figure out how each thinker understood human nature (re: good life), and what each offered as solutions (re: good government) to rampant evils in human society at the time! Of course, you can choose to focus on either “the good life” or “good government,” but you can also address the other by spelling out the far-reaching implications of their views.

Once you have gained a confident understanding of these texts through close reading, you can find a more specific topic for further inquiry into the implications of these texts. For example, you might want to begin with the question of why and how Laozi and Zhuangzi were so critical of Confucian philosophy (what were their differences were as to human nature and good government); or you might want to defend Confucianism by constructing a Confucian apology against Daoist critiques.

You can, of course, address these issues by focusing on a more specific question: for example, you can focus on the difference between Laozi and Confucius. Even if your focus is on Laozi and Confucius, you should also cite later texts (Mencius, Xunzi, and Zhuangzi) because by reading the later texts, you can form a clearer understanding of their predecessors (Laozi and Confucius). Vice versa, you can choose to compare Zhuangzi and Xunzi, but you should also cite the other three texts.

Here is a list of possible topics for your essays:

1. A Daoist (Laozi or Zhuangzi or both) critique of Confucian (Confucius or Mencius or Xunzi) morality (remember “morality” is not only for individuals but also for government

The First Essay Assignment
1. Topic: Based on your reading of the Confucian Classics (the Book of Documents, the Analects, the Mencius, and the Xunzi) and the classics of Daoism (the Laozi and Zhuangzi), compare and contrast the ways of the good life and good government, as articulated by these two rivaling schools of thought in ancient China.
2. Tips: In order to write a successful essay, you should first establish your views of what Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, despite their differences, commonly offered as solutions to political chaos and social disorder. Once you have gained a fair understanding of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi, reconstruct a Daoist critique of the Confucian Way based on a close reading of the Laozi and the Zhuangzi.
3. 3. Textual Evidence: In your essay you should provide textual evidence for your arguments. For historical contextualization you can use the Cambridge Illustrated History of China with proper citation; however, NEVER use on-line sources as they tend to be misleading. Footnotes are expected. Internal parenthetical citations are NOT acceptable.
4. Title: The title of your essays should contain be composed of two parts, a running head and a sub-title, respectively. An essay without a proper title will NOT be accepted. These are a few possible examples:
a. “Ritual as Self-fulfillment”: The Significance of Ritual in the early evolution of Confucian Thought b. “The Ministers Should Reprove a Ruler”: Ministerial Check on Kingship in early Confucian Texts c. “Order, Wealth, and Legitimacy”: The Work of Government defined in Early Confucian Classics
5. Length: 5 pages (Times New Roman 12 points, double-spaced)