How did the teachings of Daoism, Legalism, and other schools of thought differ from Confucianism?

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Inscribed Bamboo SlipsIn 1993 Chinese archaeologists discovered a late-fourth-century-B.C.E. tomb in Hubei province that contained 804 bamboo slips bearing some 12,000 Chinese characters. Scholars have been able to reconstruct more than a dozen books from them, many of them previously unknown. (Private Collection/Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library)> PICTURING THE PASTANALYZING THE IMAGE: Can you spot any repeated characters? Can you see any very simple characters?CONNECTIONS: What were the consequences of recording texts on bamboo or wooden strips? How might doing so have shaped reading and writing in Zhou times? For modern archaeologists who discover these texts in tombs, would the medium used pose any challenges?

DDuring the Warring States Period, rulers took advantage of the destruction of states to recruit newly unemployed men to serve as their advisers and court assistants. Lively debate often resulted as these strategists proposed policies and refuted opponents, and new schools of thought emerged. Many of these schools directly opposed the ideas of Confucius and his followers. Most notable were the Daoists, who believed that the act of striving to improve society only made it worse, and the Legalists, who argued that a strong government depended not so much on moral leadership as on effective laws and procedures.