The Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought
By admin on 2014-12-26

As an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China, the Hundred Schools of Thought lasted from 770 BC to 222 BC. Known as the Golden Age of Chinese thought and the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought, the period saw the rise of many different schools of thought. Many of the great Chinese classic texts that originated during this period have had profound influences on Chinese lifestyle and social consciousness lasting to the present day. The intellectual society of this era was characterized by itinerant intellectuals, who were usually employed by various state rulers as advisers on the methods of government, war, and diplomacy.
 
Confucianism is the body of thought that has arguably had the most enduring effect on Chinese life. Also known as the School of the Scholars, its written legacy lies in the Confucian Classics, which later became the foundation of the traditional society. The representative of this thought is Confucius, he believed that the only effective system of government necessitated prescribed relationships for each individual: "Let the ruler be a ruler and the subject a subject." Furthermore, he contended that a king must be virtuous in order to rule properly.

Mencius was a Confucian disciple who made major contributions to the spread of humanism in Confucian thought, declaring that man, by nature, was inherently good. He argued that a ruler could not govern without the people's tacit consent, and that the penalty for unpopular, despotic rule was the loss of the "mandate of heaven".

Another Confucian follower was Xun Zi who preached that man is innately selfish and evil, he asserted that goodness is attainable only through education and conduct befitting one's status. He also argued that the best form of government is one based on authoritarian control, and that ethics is irrelevant in the context of effective rule.

Legalism greatly influenced the philosophical basis for the imperial form of government. During the Han Dynasty, the most practical elements of Confucianism and Legalism were taken to form a sort of synthesis, marking the creation of a new form of government that would remain largely intact until the late 19th century.

As the second most significant stream of Chinese thought, the Zhou period also saw the development of Taoism. Its formulation is often attributed to the legendary sage Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. The focus of Taoism is on the individual within the natural realm rather than the individual within society; according to Taoism, the goal of life for each individual is to seek to adjust oneself and adapt to the rhythm of the natural world, to follow the Way of the universe, to live in harmony.

The school of Mohism was founded upon the doctrine of Mozi. Though the school did not survive through the Qin Dynasty, Mohism was seen as a major rival of Confucianism in the period of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Its philosophy rested on the idea of universal love: Mozi believed that "all men are equal before heaven", and that mankind should seek to imitate heaven by engaging in the practice of collective love. His epistemology can be regarded as primitive materialist empiricism; he believed that our cognition ought to be based on our perceptions – our sensory experiences, such as sight and hearing – instead of imagination or internal logic, elements founded on our capacity for abstraction.

In a word, the scene of “ contention of a hundred schools of thought” brought forth in the Spring and Autumn Period 2,500 years ago and the Warring States Period over 2,200 years ago and the emergence of various schools of thought and their exponents such as Lao Zi and Confucius about 2,400 years ago all occupy a very important position in the world history of philosophy.