 Many scholars believe Taoism arose as a countermovement to Confucianism. The philosophical terms Tao and De are indeed shared by both Taoism and Confucianism, and Laozi is traditionally held to have been a teacher of Confucius. Zhuangzi explicitly criticized Confucianist and Mohist tenets in his work. In general, Taoism rejects the Confucianist emphasis on rituals, hierarchical social order, and conventional morality, and favors naturalness, spontaneity, and individualism instead.
