Confucius himself had a clear moralistic and political teaching, to love others, to honor one's family, to do what is lawful instead of what is of benefit, to practice give and take, to rule by moral example instead of by might and injustice and so forth. Confucius believed that a ruler who had to resort to power had already failed as a leader or ruler. This was not a standard that Chinese rulers all the time follow, but it was the ideal of unselfish rule. In spite of that, the Confucian ideal elude the most terrible of modern paternalism with the principle of government by example and by not doing, placing Confucianism nearer to Taoism than to prevalent practices of suppressive control. Confucius thought that government by laws and discipline could keep people in line, but government by example of morality and good manners would make possible to control themselves.
