How they began
As with most widespread and structured ideological systems, both Taoism and Confucianism attribute their core doctrines to legendary teachers, Lao Tzu and Confucius respectively, and ancient inspired texts, like the Tao Te Ching and the Analects.  Regardless of the validity of these stories, they act to reveal more about what these schools of thought have become than what they ever were or were

Molding the Man

Going w/ the Flow
K'ung Fu-tzu, translated "Master K'ung," was born in China during a time of internal warfare and instability to a poor mother and a warrior father, who shortly died and left them in poverty. In this sqalid and unsure world, he dedicated himself to learning. Around the age of 18, he got a good job in a grainery, marrying several years later.  At the age of 30, when his career floundered, he began teaching others. He taught that the goal of the philosopher was to become learned in a way that transcended facts. On the basis of a broad learning in the classic texts, which he essentially formulated the canon of, he preached that any person could become aware of the moral order of the cosmos and of his or her proper place in it. When he couldn't get a position in government, which he felt essential to instigating social change, he went on a 13 year trek around China, preaching to all those who would listen. He died in 497BC, thinking that he had failed to make a permanent positive impact on the world. However, his disciples compiled a book of sayings, stories, and ancedotes attributed to his teachings, called the Analects.  The Western title Confucius, "Great Teacher," was given to K'ung Fu-tzu. By its very nature, Taoism denies and defies quantification and definition by words, let alone a set canon or history. However, some names and texts do correlate with and pertain to the mainstays of the philosophy. The Tao Te Ching, "The Way and Its Power," is the main text of Taoism. "It can perhaps best be characterized as teaching the eternal principle of reality and the way in which all things are governed by and find their true natures in it (Davis, G.S.. 95 Grolier's)." The purported author of this deceptively slim volume is Lao Tzu, a legendary character whose name meant both "Ancient Man" and "Ancient Baby," who left it to his land before seeking solitude in his final days during the 6th century BC. The most prominent philosopher in this mindscape was Chuang-tzu, who engendered to it a visible and pronounced split from Confucianism. In the 3rd century BC, he rejected the Confucian ideals vocally, especially that of education to mold a person into seeing his or her place and understanding the natural order of things, the Tao, instead debasing it as leading one away from an understanding of how to attain harmony with the world.

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