Xun Zi's unsentimental and authoritarian inclinations are developed into the doctrine embodied in the School of Law (fa), or Legalism.

The doctrine is formulated by Han Fei (d. 233 BCE) and Li Si (d. 208 BCE), who maintain that human nature is incorrigibly selfish and therefore the only way to preserve the social order is to impose discipline from above and to enforce laws strictly.

The Legalists exalt the state and seek its prosperity and martial prowess above the welfare of the common people.

Legalism becomes the philosophic basis for the imperial form of government.

When the most practical and useful aspects of Confucianism and Legalism are synthesized in the Han period (206 BCE – CE 220), a system of governance comes into existence that is to survive largely intact until the late nineteenth century.

Taoism (or Daoism in pinyin), the second most important stream of Chinese thought, also develops during the Zhou period.

Its formulation is attributed to the legendary sage Lao Zi (Old Master), said to predate Confucius, and Zhuang Zi (369-286 BCE).

The focus of Taoism is the individual in nature rather than the individual in society.

It holds that the goal of life for each individual is to find one's own personal adjustment to the rhythm of the natural (and supernatural) world, to follow the Way (dao) of the universe.

In many ways the opposite of rigid Confucian moralism, Taoism serves many of its adherents as a complement to their ordered daily lives.

A scholar on duty as an official will usually follow Confucian teachings but at leisure or in retirement might seek harmony with nature as a Taoist recluse.