Confucius believed the Sage kings had it essentially right. A ruler should be like a father figure to his people and lead by example, not by fear. Confucius also drew upon other age-old Chinese virtues such as filial piety or xiao, a moral humanity or ren, and ritual courtesy or li. Confucian thought emphasizes the principle that humans are generally moral creatures and are "by fact, obliged to comport themselves humanely and with integrity. .

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             While Confucianism preached preached a "doctrine of benevolent reform " based on the virtues of the past, Legalism contrarily emphasized a strict utilitarian regime. Leaders in legalist thought, realized that with the extreme disorder of their present day, new and drastic measures were necessary. For a governing body to succeed, it would depend on a effective system of rewards and punishments. To ensure his power, the ruler had to keep his officials in line with strict rules and regulations and his people obedient with predictably enforced laws. Shang Yang, Han Feizi gathered that the base of a state's strength was its armed forces and its agriculture. They then tried to dissuade people from being merchants, scholars, philosophers, or artists because these careers did not "advance the interests of the state ". Legalist's imposed a strict regime with clearly and strictly defined laws and expectations. Failure to comply even to the most negligible of laws resulted in severe punishment. Legalist thought was that this fear of their leaders would inspire compliance with the laws that govern the state as a whole. .

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             Although the harsh ideals of the legalist school of thought may have later been smoothed out by adopting certain Confucian ideas, they originated as vastly different systems. We can see the legalist polices that Sima Quian recorded in his expansive history of China as they were enforced by Qin Shihuandi. Confucians such as Mencius would have likely disagreed with this style of rule.