"In the past, at the end of the Han, Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, bands of rebels were innumerable, all because of foolish rulers and misgovernment, so that none of these rebellions could be stamped out. But today [the emperor] is deeply concerned and examines his character in order to reform himself, worships Heaven, and is sympathetic to the people. He has not increased the land tax, nor has he conscripted soldiers from households. . . . It does not require any great wisdom to see that sooner or later the [Taiping] bandits will all be destroyed."
Zeng Guofan, Qing dynasty Chinese official, proclamation against the Taiping rebels, 1854

Zeng Guofan’s analysis of the situation in China in 1854 was likely influenced by which of the following?

The Daoist notion of being in harmony with nature

The absolutist notion of the divine right of kings

The Buddhist notion of avoiding violence against any living thing

The Confucian notion of the dynastic cycle