Though Taoist (Daoist) and Confucian principles have undergone many changes in the course of their development, they have always shared many basic concepts and often employed a similar philosophical vocabulary, even thought they have ascribed different meanings to their terms. Common to both ideologies are the ideals of the beneficent sage(the perfect- or any event the superior- man who benefits society by his example) and such associated ideas as the principle of harmony or identification with the universe, conformity to the pattern of cosmic change, beauty of the natural order (as opposed to artifice) and obedience to natural law. Both schools emphasize the Tao (or "way") of the universe and Tao of the sage who attempts to make his own way conform to that of cosmos. Both stress although in very different ways, the sage's relationship to the universe or macrocosm and his role in or apart from, human society. .
Since each tradition has borrowed, sometimes involuntarily, from the other, it is not always easy to draw a sharp distinction between them. Not a few Taoists have claimed Confucius himself for their school, and conversely many a Confucius scholar accused by his fellow of crypto-Taoism. Generally speaking, the Confucian has tended to emphasize active participation in the government, the Taoist the merit of abstaining from action-the value of inaction or "wu-wei".
The former has stressed clearly defined moral or social ideals and codes of behavior. It has affirmed the value of rites and principles ("li") and, in particular, the duties resulting from the five primary social relationship-"sovereign and subject, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife and friend and friend". The later has preferred to leave duties undefined and responsibilities unspecified, and avoid distinctions between good and evil.
For the former, he basic natural laws-the laws of heaven or the ways of Tao-are rational principles.
