How did rulers from the Zhou Dynasty of China, the Old Kingdom of Egypt, and the Babylonian Empire of Mesopotamia displayed power and strength?

Zhou Dynasty of China

The essence of Confucianism is already clearly there in I Ching: the significance of every human life, as well as the goal of society, can be achieved only in the harmonic unity between self and others, and between human beings and nature. All Confucian opinions on leadership are based on this belief (Wang, p86).

There were hundreds of feudal states under the central court of Zhou Dynasty, organized by the feudal ritual system. Central and local leadership was maintained, and social solidarity was achieved neither by military force nor by legal constraint but by ritual observance. When it came to Confucius's time, the ritual system had been shaken. The rulers of powerful feudal states no longer respected or obeyed the authority of the central court, and they fought against each other in wars and plots to expand their own power and territory (Schwartz, p46).

Some dominant ministers in these feudal states, in turn, had overthrown their masters and taken over or divided the states. This is why Confucius considered reestablishing the ritual system Li of the first priority in restoring social order and leadership, and he made great efforts, although unsuccessfully, to achieve it.

A person acquiring the quality of ren and observing li is a junzi, namely, a nobleman. Whereas anyone can become a junzi by self-cultivation, only a junzi should be in position of leadership. An ideal leader in the Confucian tradition is the so-called inner sage and outer king who, first of all, is a moral model for his people because conviction and admiration, rather than coercion and discipline, are the solid basis for obedience.

Old Kingdom of Egypt

Egypt's Old Kingdom (Dynasties ...