The core viewpoints advocated by Confucianism are: "benevolence" and "courtesy";

Legalists are "Fa", "Shi" and "Shu".

Confucianism believes that "human nature is good at the beginning of life" and the basis of state rule is morality. Different people have different opinions. (This "ceremony" is not just the "ceremony" we are talking about now, but the "ceremony system": that is, what kind of ceremony everyone should enjoy at what level, and everyone should abide by their duties and self-denial and not violate etiquette.

The inviolable and unquestionable position of the king comes from the "divine right of monarchy";

The way for kings to maintain their dominant position should be to "serve people with virtue";

In maintaining social order, the people should "respect the king and obey the ceremony";

In the view of history, ancient times is a paradise for mankind, and what modern people have to do is to "go back to ancient times and learn from the ancients."

Legalists believe that "at the beginning of life, inherent vice", the rule of the country does not depend on everyone doing good deeds, but everyone abides by the (king) discipline, abides by the (king) law, and does not (dare) do bad things. Everything is done according to the king's laws and rules.

The inviolable and unquestionable position of the king comes from "potential", that is, the majesty of the king, the strength of the king and the absolute control of the military and political power by the king;

The way for kings to maintain their dominance is "technique"; Refers to the art of controlling ministers and mastering political power. Mainly to find and prevent the crime of rebellion.

In maintaining social order, people are made to abide by the law by "punishment" and "law".

In the view of history, it should be "the past is illegal, and today is not sustainable", which advocates that modern people should be innovative and enterprising.

Generally speaking, Confucianism gives people the impression of being "gentle" and "close to the people", while Legalists give people the impression of being mean and ungrateful. However, the essence of Confucianism is to protect the vested interests, and the bottom of society should consciously accept the rule of the vested interests, but the vested interests should not kill the goose to get the egg, but should be "benevolent" and rule the bottom of society with moderation. However, the legalist thought only maintained the absolute rule of the king, but it had an impact on the general vested interests or the ruling class, because the legalist advocated "rewarding merit" and opposed the "ritual system" of maintaining hereditary privileges.

Generally speaking, Confucianism is moderate "conservative" and Legalism is unfriendly "innovation". Therefore, when the country is in a period of expansion, such as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, no king listens to the utopian nonsense of Confucianism, while when the country is stable, it prefers Confucianism in order to maintain its rule.

After the Han Dynasty, the kings of China seemed to be "exclusive of Confucianism", but in fact they pursued "positive Confucianism and negative law", that is, they stressed morality, "courtesy, righteousness and integrity" of Confucianism and felt that they were "exclusive of Confucianism"; In fact, the autocratic power of "imperial power controlling people" and "kingship" is actually what ministers and political power pursue. At the same time, it also strengthened the construction of kingship and maintained the rule.