Confucian propriety constrained people's unfettered nature and maintained harmonious social relations; Taoism's unworldliness let people free themselves from material temptations, emphasized the aesthetic side of life, and allowed people to find spiritual satisfaction beyond material things through the contemplation of nature.
儒家所提倡的禮教，約制人們的放任，維持和諧的人際關係；道家的出世觀，則令人擺脫物質的誘惑，重視美感生活，寄情山水之間，在物質外，也得到精神上的滿足。