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Applying Confucian and Daoist Concepts to Animal Welfare Issues and
Legislation in China
By: Taylor Harrington
Taylor Harrington
Ancient Chinese Thought Wei Laoshi
December 8, 2014

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Imagine you are walking down the crowded streets of Yulin, China. There are festivities
going on, people are rejoicing in some kind of traditional holiday of sorts. You enter the hub of
celebration and activity with curiosity, only to find over 10,000 dogs each slaughtered and
hanging from single hooks fashioned through their lower jaw, still in their full form. (Larson)
The people are unfazed as they participate in the celebration, purchasing what you call “man’s
best friend” to cook in their dinners. This is just one of the many animal cruelties built into
China’s culture for decades. Since ancient times, Chinese culture has shifted from living in a
harmony with other beings and nature to eventually Chinese policies unleashing “one of the most
intense assaults [ever] on wildlife” (Michael Tobias) in history at one point. Chinese culture
adopted an insensitive, inferior view of non-human species. The Daoist and Confucian roots that
held animals in a higher respect have been distorted and lost through radically government
control/censorship and concern for China’s economy. Today, the mistreatment of animals is just
beginning to be addressed in China, far behind other countries, and are slowly translating into
animal rights and animal welfare organizations and protests. The reinstitution of certain Daoist
and Confucian values would greatly benefit animals and would support the progress of the
current animal rights and welfare movement fighting to stop cruel practices of modern-day
China.
Conclusions have been being formed about the extent of rightful consideration for
nonhumans ever since the beginning of human civilization. Even though the idea of enforced
lawful protection of animals has been prevalent for a few hundred years, people are still
struggling with conflicting views on the place of animals in society. Since animals cannot tell us,
everyone may form and push there own beliefs on how animals should be treated in the
institutional boundaries of right and wrong. Desire to accomplish better treatment for animals in

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a society now takes many forms. Some people advocate for animal rights view, which
completely oppose human utilization of nonhuman animals in principle and seeks to end it in
practice (Regan 24). This perspective sees humans as equally qualified as animals for moral
consideration in all situations, and assumes all or some animals have their own lives and
emotional compositions. If fully instituted, animal rights laws would prohibit animal
experimenting, use of captivity, breeding and killing animals, or any other type of slavery. These
laws would have major impacts on how we live. “We [could] no longer eat, sleep and work in
the same untroubled way” (Rollin 20), making it less appealing to the general human population.
Others fight for animal welfare. More easily applied to most societies, animal welfare is
different than animal rights in the sense that supporters “believe that we have a duty to improve
the quality of animal life by ensuring—as far as this is practicable, when balanced against our
other moral obligations and ideals—that other animals receive what is good for them” (Regan
33). To these advocates, “human interests and preferences [are]…frequently more important”
(Regan 34) than those of other animals, while many believe animals are still on the planet to
serve humans. Whether the betterment of animal treatment is significant for the improvement
human morality only, or the protection of animals’ inherent value, the movement to help animals
that are instrumentalized by humans is worldwide and growing in strength.
China for many years was known throughout the world for its history of cruel animal
practices and its politically engrained lack of consideration for nonhuman species. To get a feel
for the current standing: “Animals are treated dreadfully in Chinese farms, laboratories, zoos and
elsewhere. There are grim factories where thousands of live bears in tiny cages are tapped for
medicinal bile. At safari parks, live sheep and poultry are fed to lions as spectators cheer. At
farms and in slaughterhouses, animals are killed with little concern for their suffering” ("Asia: A

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Small Voice Calling; Animal Rights in China.”) It wasn’t always this way, but with a massive
and growing populations, plus communist rule and reform, a fear of hunger and poverty lead to
little regulation in food and other profitable industries. With such economic developments, the
overall attitude about animal rights gradually became nation-wide and heavily institutionalized.
In an interview about this issue, Peter J Li, Ph.D. contributes his shock at American’s feeding
animals and caring for wild species to the “selfish nature of capitalists indoctrinated by China’s
school system.” This perspective built into important systems such as education cause the
continuation of these practices and make the injustices much harder to realize and solve. While
China was still performing inhumane procedures and mass killings of species, social movements
were forming in many countries that called for major legislative change in animal welfare. In
fact, “China has lagged behind the industrialized nations in animal protection law-making for
more than 180 years” (Peter Li), making the social movement that has recently begun to arise in
China all the more necessary for its reputation as a nation, and the suffering animal population.
The Animal Welfare movement in China is gaining in power. New regulations for animal
welfare have been being passed at an impressive rate. In many ways, “the animal welfare
movement in China is maturing far faster than it ever did in the West” (Robinson). This is in
part because of the increasing pet ownership rate among Chinese residents, for some of the most
heated protests began from opposition to pet-animals, mainly the cooking of dogs and cats for
food and the slaughter of stray dogs (Larson). Attaching an emotional connection to certain
species fueled many protests and campaigns to stop these practices. Despite efforts, government
employees continue to beat unregistered dogs to death on the street and bury alive stray mongrels
seen as nuisances, and restaurants selling stolen dog and cat meat. Dog slaughter “is often
conducted on the side of the streets in broad view of young children” (Peter Li). Dogs and cats

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are many times still raised on farms, then taken on long transports where they starve and often
become ill, then subjected to torturous and drawled out slaughtering practices that supposedly
improves their meat before trade. Dogs and cats are routinely “bludgeoned over the head,
stabbed in the neck or groin and bled out, hanged, electrocuted or thrown conscious into vats of
boiling water” (AnimalsAsia). Unfortunately, the fight against these types of injustices may not
be effective soon, but adds to the greater movement that’s making a nation-wide statement to the
stubborn and all-powerful government. The lack of animal welfare laws make it hard to legally
support animal welfare arguments, but activists continue to fight all types of issues such as faulty
farming and slaughter practices, bear bile markets, and animal testing using other methods.
China is the largest animal-farming nation in the world, with also the largest number of
animals raised in welfare-compromised conditions. In particular, the bear farming industry
stands out as an excessively cruel industry, and is arguably China’s most brutal operation. Bears
are locked in cages for life, fit to their exact size with no room for movement, and then bile is
extracted form their gallbladder through an open wound cut in their stomachs. (Peter Li)
“Scientists have confirmed the many physical and mental traumas of bear farming,” (Peter Li)
making a clear case for the abolition of the practice to an animal rights activist. Bold protesters
attacked the products and website of the largest producer of the bear bile, yet the 1.6 billion U.S.
dollars that the industry generates annually is incentive enough for the government to keep it
around (Jacobs). This monetary incentive extends to other industries that currently rely on the
abuse of animals to make their success. The government fears that if they pass laws that express
bear farming as cruel and unjust, it will spark opposition of similar causes that function along the
same lines, providing a basis for legal arguments against other cruelty. The government would
rather not recognize what they are doing is wrong, for closing bear farms could trigger a “ripple

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effect leading to demands for closing other businesses found to be environmentally, ethically, or
socially questionable” (Peter Li).
Another battle recently fought by the animal welfare movement is animal testing, which
was mandatory in China until June of 2014. The revoke of required cosmetic safety testing for
product to be sold in China was recently eradicated in a long-standing animal welfare war
against the controversial methods. Activists funded training of cosmetic sciences in in-vitro
methods that don’t involve animals and are equally effective. Countries produces and selling
products in China can now choose not to test their products on animals now, but imported
products still must be tested as before. This choice still prevents “countless animals from being
poisoned and killed, and it paves the way for non-animal product testing to become more readily
accepted” (Kretzer) —a huge step up in the relentless animal rights movement among the many
injustices.
Many animal welfare activists believe that their movement is not a monumental change
in Chinese culture at large, but rather a reinstallation of the original Chinese values. In the words
of Mang Ping, professor at China's Central Institute of Socialism:
“We have the same sympathy and mercy as the West towards animals. Ancient manuscripts
show that animal protection was the first activity to be regulated by the ancient dynasties, and
people under the Qing dynasty were not allowed to kill cubs, pregnant females, or working
animals. Today, we see bears riding bikes, animals cruelly treated in labs, and so on, but can we
return to our traditional culture? Our culture is embedded in benevolence… and if we lose
benevolence, we lose Chinese culture.” (Robinson)
She believes that the virtues of care for others and value of a minimalist lifestyle have been lost
through these massive productions of animal cruelty and a disregard for their lives.

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Realistically, Daoists and Confucians separate belief systems being singularly applied in
the current issue would not make full progress towards animal rights. Strictly Daoist individuals
would probably respect fellow species but would not interfere in the face of animal cruelty
(Komjathy), while a Daoist government would not exert the force needed to stop companies and
manufacturers from causing the abuse. Strictly Confucians would worry more for social and
familial duties than for animal welfare, and the government would enforce societal humanly
order with less consideration for animal habitats and resources. Historically, kindness towards
animals was achieved through the mixing of Confucianism and Daoist beliefs in ancient Chinese
culture. Both philosophies offer many passages that promote animal welfare, and encourage a
life respectful towards nature’s non-human species. These ideals and values must be recombined
and re-instilled in modern society in order to achieve this harmony again. With a closer look into
both philosophies, a higher understanding and fine-tuned combination of certain virtues can be
mixed to support the current movement and return to a harmonious state of ancient times.
Daoism emphasizes a harmonious relationship with nature. Its main texts make a point of
criticizing human’s desire to manipulate and explain the world, which is truly beyond any
capacity to decipher. Our tendency to label “this and “that” is pointless, since “this” is sometimes
“that” and vice versa; there is nothing that can exist without exceptions and contradictions
(Watson 34-35). The fact that humans distinguish themselves as superior to other animal based
on certain traits, actually exemplifies our ignorance. Humans who think in this way are bound to
be missing not only other equally vital functions of animals that they don’t understand, they are
also disassociating with their animal traits. The label of ultimately superior that has justified the
suppression of animals for centuries neglects the intersections between our species and others, as
well as tries to explain the elusively of Way. As it is said in the Tao Te Ching, “there’s nothing

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that is not real, and nothing that is not sufficient…Hence, the blade of grass and the pillar, the
leper and the ravishing Xi Shi…in Dao they all move as one and the same” (Crane 29),
reinforcing that all sentient beings are of equal integrity and equal importance. Even if something
may seem useless, it is not. On all accounts, Daoism would not agree with any animal abuse for
human purposes like health or beauty. Sickness is a part of natural lifespan and real human
beauty is not external. While animal farming and testing hold animals in a place of human
usefulness, Daoism holds animals in quite the opposite respect. The stories in the Chuang Tzu
frequently reference or feature non-human animals, often used as a metaphor for our own lives,
each species exhibiting exemplary or representative human traits in different ways that present a
moral lesson of sorts. In this way, Daoism often presents animals of other species as our
teachers, and that readers should go on from the novel to observe the natural patterns of nature
more closely and as a personal things. As Louis Komjathy describes, “as one begins to renounce
an instrumentalist and desire-based existential mode—as one begins to return to one’s original
condition of attunement with the Dao—one may then accept animals and other organic beings as
one’s teachers.” This view drastically opposes the standpoint of modern China’s legislation. In
the case of animal cosmetic testing or bear farming for bear bile, Daoist would object to the
killing of animals for our own personal use. It is completely against the Dao to kill any living
species for our own benefit, and argues that is takes away one’s own personal integrity and
following of the way to work in those industries and produce products that involve abuse to sell.
The Tao Te Ching clearly expresses this in a passage about death; it uses the analogy: “In
chopping wood on behalf on the master carpenter, there are few who escape hurting their own
hands instead” (Lao Tzu 81). The companies who kill animals for products that can be
manipulated and used for humans, they are killing their own humanity and values. Instead of

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using animals, Daoism preaches instead to give to other species and treat them as equals. The
Great Precepts of the Highest Ranks even include demands to: “give wisely to the birds and
beasts, to all species of living creatures. Take from your own mouth to feed them, let there be
none left unloved or not cherished” (Kemmerer 127). Although Daoism holds nature in high
regard, a Daoist may still eat dog or cat meat due to their belief in basic survival, but also non-
interference, or wuwei, principles that respect other peoples decisions to go against the way by
killing animals for food.
Confucianism, animal rights cannot be blatantly advocated for through the sacred texts,
but virtues and values presented in the ideal Confucian society can be logically applied to the
treatment of animals using the same moral principles. They can be applied using the idea that
certain actions and types of treatment are not justifiable when given to animals or humans. If
reciprocal action, humanity, and respect for people less fortunate can be applied to dying elders
and infants, who do not actively contribute to the moral community, it can be applied to some
animals as well. Considering that animals can have great emotional value to humans and can in
many cases help us to extend our own humanity by caring for them, we see a connection of
Confucianism and some animal welfare cases. Confucianism society is a hierarchical system, so
naturally the more a species connects to humans emotionally, the greater consideration
Confucians will grant it. The dog and cat meat industry would be controversial for Confucians,
because dogs and cats are domesticated animals that can provide friendship to humans. “The
human family has been said to be a dog’s natural and social environment” (Wise 114), giving pet
species a better chance for protection. But in the discussion of bear bile and other drug
extractions, the medical benefits to humans would probably outweigh the emotional destruction
caused in bears because bears are much farther removed from human societal contact. This ties

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into the Confucian concept that even a superior man, “having seen [an animal] alive, he cannot
bear to eat their flesh – Mencius,” (Kemmerer 127) justifying bear cruelty but condemning dog
cruelty based on how removed they our from human’s lives. Any medical product that can heal
illness would be essential to Confucians so that people can become healthy enough to fulfill their
social duties. Separately, Confucians would not condone any animal discomfort for cosmetic or
artistic products because those products are seen as unnecessary to human relationships. Even
though Confucian would rank species, including human, according to their involvement and
value in the moral community, they would probably agree with the animal welfare argument that
“human cruelty to other animals will cause humans to treat one another cruelty” (Regan 4). In
that case, Confucians would hopefully refrain from animal cruelty for the fulfillment of their
own humanity, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
The animal welfare movement is still pushing for changes in the treatment of animals all
throughout China. With a re-evaluation of Confucian and Daoist morals in modern
circumstances there are some points of support for animal rights and welfare in both human and
animal based arguments. Daoism would agree more that animals have inherent value and would
respect their own intelligence and emotional lives as something to learn from. They would
probably advocate more for animal rights and possibly even vegetarianism. Confucians would
side more with the argument that is in not with our moral standards to hurt or kill those more
innocent or weak than us, but confirm that animals may be used as tools in the most moral way
possible to achieve human benefits. They would probably support animal welfare. “Doaist
morality explicitly protects the natural world- including animals- from human domination and
exploitation,” (Kemmerer 129) while Confucianism treads lightly upon it while using it for
community purposes. They both would agree though that “being at the top does not entail that

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one can treat the creatures beneath in any way one chooses” (Rollin 30), as it explains in every
text the importance of giving to the inferior. Currently, these values have somewhat been
twisted by communism and prosperity, and people have been socialized to be indifferent or
insensitive to animal suffering (Peter Li). But in the past few years the reality of corruption has
been realized and taken action against. While China fights for animal rights, re-instilling these
certain values in society would benefit the harmony of the planet’s species, including humans.

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