Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought (Chinese: 諸子百家; pinyin: zhūzǐ bǎijiā) were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the late Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China.
| Hundred Schools of Thought | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 諸子百家 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 诸子百家 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The term was not used to describe these different philosophies until Confucianism, Mohism, and Legalism were created.
The era in which they flourished was a turbulent one in China; it was fraught with chaos and bloody battles, but it was also known as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophy because a broad range of thoughts and ideas were developed and discussed freely. This phenomenon has been called the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought (百家爭鳴; 百家争鸣; bǎijiā zhēngmíng).
The thoughts and ideas discussed and refined during this period have profoundly influenced lifestyles and social consciousness up to the present day in East Asian countries and the East Asian diaspora communities worldwide. 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.
This period ended with the rise of the imperial Qin dynasty and the subsequent purge of dissent that rippled throughout Chinese society done by Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Li Si.