129).

             Confucianism is based on the teachings of Confucius, who lived, by most accounts, around 500 B.C.E. His teachings were written down and disseminated as The Analects of Confucius during the third century B.C.E. by his disciples; by the second century B.C.E. Confucianism had been adopted as the official state religion of China and was taught in all of the schools of the empire (Sharma 1993). Confucianism became an ethical and political system with an emphasis on virtuous behavior; its definition of virtue is based on a person's interaction with five major relations in his life, the Five Hierarchical Relationships: "the bond between child and parent.the ties between husband and wife, between elder and younger brother, between friend and friend, and between ruler and minister" (Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis, 2002). These ethics have been described as "virtually inseparable from the moral fabric of Chinese society," (Sharma 1993, p. 165).

             Taoism was started, most scholars believe, by Lao-Tzu in sixth century B.C.E., around the time of both Confucius and Siddhartha Gautama, but was not really developed until the second century B.C.E. (Sharma 1993). Lao-Tzu wrote down his philosophies in the Tao Te Ching, and they were then passed on and taught via his followers in subsequent generations. The Taoists were focused on longevity, even physical immortality, and like Confucians, were centered on one's behaviors in the world (ibid). The system has focused on values and practices of the present world and has incorporated much Chinese folk culture and religion into its canon, absorbing indigenous beliefs and practices under the umbrella of Taoism and has been defined as "more important as a part of cultural tradition than as an organized religion." (Sharma 1993, p. 245). However, the history, value system, and religious practices of Taoism distinguish it from being solely a cultural phenomenon, instead suggesting that at the very least, it expounds values and practices for its followers in the fashion of a religious belief system.