Hundred Schools of Thought

Hundred Schools of Thought
Traditional Chinese諸子百家
Simplified Chinese诸子百家
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhūzǐ bǎijiā
Bopomofoㄓㄨ ㄗˇ ㄅㄞˇ ㄐㄧㄚ
Wade–GilesChu1-tzu3 pai3-chia1
Tongyong Pinyinjhu-zǐh bǎi-jia
IPA[ʈʂú.tsɹ̩̀ pàɪ.tɕjá]
Wu
RomanizationTsoe tzy ba' ga
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJyū-jí baak-gāa
JyutpingZyu1 zi2 baak3 gaa1
IPA[tsy˥ tsi˧˥ pak̚˧ ka˥]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôTsu-tsú pah-ka

The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophies and schools that flourished during the late Spring and Autumn period[1] and Warring States period (c. 500 – 221 BC).[2] The term was not used to describe these different philosophies until Confucianism, Mohism, and Legalism were created.[3] The era in which they flourished was one of turbulence in China,[4] fraught with chaos and mass militarization, but where Chinese philosophy was developed and patronized by competing bureaucracies. This phenomenon has been called the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought.

The philosophies that emerged during this period have profoundly influenced East Asian culture and societies. The intellectual landscape of this era was characterized by itinerant scholars, who were often employed by various state rulers as advisers on the way of government, war, and diplomacy. Often, members and traditions of the same school had little in common other than the same influential figure that their beliefs were based on.[1] This period ended with the rise of the imperial Qin dynasty and the subsequent burning of books and burying of scholars as part of an ideological suppression effort by Qin Shi Huang and Li Si.[5]

  1. ^ a b Ivanhoe, Philip J.; Van Norden, Bryan W. (2005). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett. p. 389. ISBN 0-872-20781-1.
  2. ^ "Chinese philosophy", Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved 4 June 2014
  3. ^ Allen, Tony; Grant, R. G.; Parker, Philip; Celtel, Kay; Kramer, Ann; Weeks, Marcus (2022). Timelines of World History (1st ed.). New York: DK. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-744-05627-3.
  4. ^ Graham, A. C., Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China (Open Court 1993). ISBN 0-8126-9087-7
  5. ^ Allen, Tony; Grant, R. G.; Parker, Philip; Celtel, Kay; Kramer, Ann; Weeks, Marcus (2022). Timelines of World History (1st ed.). New York: DK. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-744-05627-3.