First, from the background, the thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Legalism all came into being during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period when the society was turbulent and divided.

Secondly, from the content, these thoughts are undoubtedly the attitudes of Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Mozi, Lao Zi and Han Feizi towards governing the country.

Third, from their functions, they all had a certain impact on the society at that time.

Difference:

First, the specific ideas are different:

(1) Confucianism: Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, and his social norm thought is "ritual", and its core is "benevolence"; Mencius is a loyal defender of Confucius' "Tao", and he put forward the "theory of good nature", which includes four "good ends" of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. Xunzi, on the other hand, advocates that human nature is evil, and thinks that human evil itself cannot be fundamentally changed, but it can be suppressed by "falsehood" to make it return to good; Xunzi's and Mencius' theories of human nature are completely different, but both of them are the development of Confucius' theory of human nature that "the nature is similar and the learning is far away"

(2) Mohism: Mozi advocates the idea of "loving each other and bringing out the best in each other". Jimo's social integration plan is "love everything", social control plan is "ambition", "ghost" and "Shang Tong", and social equality thought is "Shang Xian".

(3) Taoism: Laozi is the founder of Taoism. He advocated ignorance, ignorance and contentment, and put forward the thoughts of "ignorance" and "inaction". Laozi's social ideal is "a small country with few people"; Zhuangzi inherited Laozi's thought and advocated "ruling the world but not curing it" and "letting nature take its course". He further promoted Laozi's social ideal of a small country and few people, and put forward a "utopia" society in which animals live in groups, nature does not transform, human beings have no selfishness and desires, and there is no social norm.

(4) Legalism: Han Fei is a master of legalism. He supported the theory of evil nature and put forward that the essence of interpersonal relationship is "self-reliance". Contrary to Confucius' self-denial, Han Fei advocates a legal society of "repairing the past unexpectedly", and it is necessary to "do endless things and discuss the world because it is prepared", employ people by law, and formulate social contracts by law.

Second, the results have different effects:

(1) In the fragmented Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism and Taoism were not suitable for specific social situations, so they were not reused by kings of various countries. However, in the period of social stability and stable development of the country, such as the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was valued by the rulers, and under the vigorous advocacy of the rulers, the society developed unprecedentedly and the country prospered. In the later period, Dong Zhongshu combined Confucianism and Taoism, resulting in a new social trend of thought, which further promoted social development.

(2) Han Fei's legalist thought was highly valued by the rulers of Qin during the Warring States Period. China, which was unified and divided by Qin Shihuang with Han Fei's legalist thought, became the first person to unify China in history, which has an important relationship with Han Fei's legalist thought of governing the country according to law, fully embodies the important role of Han Fei's legalist thought and adapts to the development of the times.

(3) China now fully combines Confucianism with Legalism, forming an important idea of governing the country according to law and building a harmonious society in Socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is also the inheritance and development of Confucianism and Legalism.