Does Guan Zi, China's famous theoretical work on governing the country, belong to Taoism or Confucianism?
Guanzi [1] is basically a Taoist work in Xia Ji. [2] that is, the management of Jixia Academy. [3] The History and Literature of Han Art classified it as the Taoist category of the Ministry [4], and The Annals of Sui Shu Classics classified it as the Legalist category. Sikuquanshu listed it as a sub-legalist. Zhang Xuecheng, a historian in Qing Dynasty, said: Guanzi [5] is also a Taoist statement. According to the statistics of Japanese scholars at home, almost every book Guanzi contains Lao Zi's language fragments and philosophical thoughts. The content is extensive and profound, written from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (475 ~ 22 BC1) to the Qin and Han Dynasties. There are 86 articles in the early Han Dynasty, 76 articles in this edition, and the rest 10 articles only exist in the catalogue. Including the views of Confucianism, Legalism, Yin and Yang, famous artists, military strategists and farmers. Among them, Huang's works are the most, followed by 18 legalist works, and the rest are miscellaneous. Among them, the legalist thought is the legalist thought under the influence of Taoist thought. [7][8]