Eastern Zhou Dynasty
YingZheng
powerful enough to control vassal states. In particular, the states
were prevented from fighting each other to annex their neighbors.
However, from the time that King Ping moved his court to Luoyi (today's
Luoyang City of Henan Province), establishing the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,
the Zhou influence began to wane. Although the king retained his
position as the nominal overlord he was no longer able to control the
activities of his vassals. Economic imbalance meant that some states
were stronger than others, which, in turn, led to stronger states
declaring war on the weaker ones and annexing them despite the
prohibition of such activities by the Zhou.
>From the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the unification by
the Qin, China was plagued by disunity and continuous conflict.
Historically, this period is recorded as the Spring and Autumn Period
(770- 476BC) and the Warring States Period (476- 221BC).
The Hundred Schools of Thought
In this turbulent time, every regional lord competed in building strong
and loyal armies and ensuring an advantage over rivals in the struggle
for survival among warring regional wars in terms of economic
production. Kingdom rulers sought the advice of teachers and
strategists. Apart from teaching their disciples, thinkers and
intellectuals were employed as advisors of various kingdom rulers
concerning methods of government, war and diplomacy procedures. This
fueled intensive activities and debates in the intellectual and
ideological system. The five most influential schools of thought that
evolved during this period were Confucianism, Taoism (Daoism), Mohism,
legalism and militarism.
Among numerous schools, the oldest, and the most influential was
Confucianism. It traced its origin to Confucius (551-479BC), a member
of the lower nobility and a minor official in the small state of Lu,
later extended by Mencius (372-289BC). Confucius tried to convince
rulers that they should cultivate moral perfection to set a good
example to the people, and that the ruler who governed benevolently
would earn the respect of the people. He held the view that human
nature was fundamentally good since everyone was born with the capacity
to recognize what is right and act upon it. Contrary to this view,
Xunzi (about 313-238BC), also a Confucian of the state of Chu, argued
that people are born selfish and that it is only through education and
ritual that they learn to give up evil and return to good. Xunzi also
intensively negated the role of heaven, stressing the importance of the
inner faith and belief that human beings exceed any other spiritual
beings.
Another school, Mohism, founded by Mo Di, flourished in the latter half
of the fifth century. It resembles Confucianism in its reverence for
humanism. Master Mo called for a universal love encompassing all human
beings in equal degree. He advocated a harmonious relationship between
people on a reciprocal basis. Thus, he is an assertor of unionism who
suggested a political relationship based on mutual benefit or
dependence between states.
In contrast to these doctrines and utterly opposed to them were the
tenets of the Legalist school that sought, by every means possible, to
strengthen the state and increase its military might. Legalism began to
take shape in the late fourth century. Legalists sought every means
possible to strengthen the state and increase its military might. They
defined the duties of people in society by framing detailed laws and
imposing penalties accordingly to punish those who failed to fulfill
them. Old customs and moral codes were to be replaced by these laws.
Shangyang, an aristocratic descendant of the Wei Kingdom, was a
representative of this school. He carried out a series of reforms in
359 and 350 BC to strengthen the power of the Qin. Later, in the
Warring States Period, another legalist named Hanfei, or Han Fei Zi,
who advocated harsh rules and laws, was also an adviser to the ruler.
He was bent on organizing society on a rational basis and finding means
to strengthen states agriculturally and militarily. They devised
elaborate means for controling people's lives and actions through laws
and punishments.
The doctrines of Daoism, the second great school of philosophy, emerged
during the Warring States Period. The Chinese word tao (pronounced
"dao") means a way or path. Considering it much too limiting to use the
term tao for the way human beings ought to behave in society, the
Taoists preferred to understand tao as the way of nature as a whole.
They tried to stress not to exaggerate the importance of man. Since
human life is only a small part of the universal, the only way human
actions could make sense is when they are in accordance with the
principles of nature. Taoists disapprove of an overly unnatural mode of
behavior and advocate the way of spontaneity and harmony. Many Taoists
also denounce violence since it reflects the ultimate ignorance of the
way of nature. Daodejing (Classic of the Way and Its Power), which is
attributed traditionally to Laozi and later complied by Zhuangzi, is
the Taoist bible where many of the above-mentioned theories were
included.
Due to the disunity and the disturbance among the states, the earliest
known treatise on war and military science, the Chinese classic Bingfa
(The Art of War), came out. It was traditionally attributed to Sun Zi
(fourth century BC) -- a military strategist and general who served the
state of Wu near the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC).
The Art of War is a systematic guide to strategies and tactics for
rulers and commanders. The book discusses the various maneuvers and
effects of terrain on the outcome of a battle.
Apart from the crowning achievements in the field of ideology, another
noted man was Quyuan (340-278BC). As a great poet and politician who
served as a chancellor to King Huai of the Kingdom of Chu, Quyuan wrote
two poetic essays called Chuci (Poetry of the Chu Kingdom) and Lisao
(Lament on Encountering Sorrow), which greatly influenced poetry of
later ages.