Hundred Schools of Thought

In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (roughly the 6th–3rd centuries BC), Chinese philosophy flowered as rival schools debated how to order state and society. Their ideas became the foundations of Chinese thought.

What happened

A class of scholars known as shi traveled between competing states, debating how state and society should be ordered. The major schools were Confucianism (Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi), Daoism (Laozi, Zhuangzi), Legalism (Shang Yang, Han Fei), and Mohism (Mozi); Sunzi’s Art of War also dates to this era.

Background

Zhou royal authority had collapsed, leaving competing states to seek advantage over one another. Their rulers recruited traveling advisers, creating unprecedented demand for the scholars’ ideas.

Consequences

These debates laid the foundations of Chinese thought. Legalism powered the rise of Qin, while Confucianism later became the state ideology of the Han.

Hundred Schools of Thought

What happened

Background

Consequences

Periods

Regions