Editing Chinese culture (section)

=== Philosophy and legalism ===
{{Main|Chinese philosophy|Confucianism|Legalism (Chinese philosophy)}}

Confucianism, also known as Ruism, was the official philosophy throughout most of [[Imperial era of Chinese history|Imperial China]]'s history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for [[Imperial examination|entry into the imperial bureaucracy]]. A number of more [[authoritarianism|authoritarian]] strains of thought have also been influential, such as [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Wong|first1=David|title=Chinese Ethics|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-chinese/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|date=2017|access-date=16 September 2017|archive-date=11 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311023856/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-chinese/|url-status=live}}</ref>There was often conflict between the philosophies, e.g. the [[Song dynasty]] [[Neo-Confucianism|Neo-Confucians]] believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a [[meritocracy|culture of merit]] remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of [[New Confucianism|New Confucians]] (not to be confused with Neo-Confucianism) have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".<ref>Bary, Theodore de. {{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccba/cear/issues/fall97/graphics/special/debary/debary.htm |title=Constructive Engagement with Asian Values |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050311041507/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccba/cear/issues/fall97/graphics/special/debary/debary.htm |archive-date=11 March 2005}}. Columbia University.</ref>

Confucianism is described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life.<ref>{{Cite book | author = Yao | date = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tAE2OJ9bPG0C | title = An Introduction to Confucianism | pages = 38–47 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-64430-3 | access-date = 29 October 2017 | archive-date = 26 April 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230426010842/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAE2OJ9bPG0C | url-status = live }}</ref> Confucianism developed from what was later called the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]] from the teachings of the [[Chinese philosophy|Chinese philosopher]] [[Confucius]] (551–479 BCE), who considered himself a retransmitter of the values of the [[Zhou dynasty]] golden age of several centuries before.<ref name="Rickett, Guanzi">Rickett, Guanzi – "all early Chinese political thinkers were basically committed to a reestablishment of the golden age of the past as early Zhou propaganda described it."</ref> In the [[Han dynasty]] (206 BCE – 220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" [[Huang-Lao]], as the official ideology, while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism.