Despite

the grander scale and loftier rewards offered by Taoism and Buddhism, Confucianism was more easily grasped and therefore more readily accepted by the masses. Largely illiterate, and used to rituals and conformity in religion and under feudal rule, it was easy to exchange one set of rituals for another. Also, Confucianism's emphasis on chivalry and other more macho concepts had greater appeal than did the more feminine, yielding ideas of Taoism.
Confucianism came under attack in the early half of the twentieth century in some sections of Chinese society after they came off second best in several major confrontations with more technologically advanced Occidental and Japanese invaders. The followers of Mao Tse-Tung in particular denounced Confucianism as an obstacle to technological advance, and therefore social evolution.