A brief introduction to various schools of thought

1. Confucianism: representative figures: Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi. Works: "Confucius", "Mencius", "Xunzi"

Confucianism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It took Confucius as its teacher in the Spring and Autumn Period, took the Six Arts as its method, and advocated "rituals and music" and "music" "Benevolence and Righteousness", an academic faction that advocates "loyalty, forgiveness" and the impartial "gold mean", advocates "moral governance" and "benevolent government", and attaches great importance to moral and ethical education and people's self-cultivation.

Confucianism emphasizes the function of education and believes that emphasis on education and light punishment is the only way to achieve national stability and people's prosperity and happiness. He advocated "education without distinction" and educated both the rulers and the ruled so that everyone in the country could become morally noble people.

Politically, he also advocated governing the country with etiquette and persuading people with virtue, calling for the restoration of "Zhou Rites" and believing that "Zhou Rites" was the ideal way to realize ideal politics. By the Warring States Period, Confucianism was divided into eight schools, the two most important ones being Mencius and Xunzi.

2. Taoism: Representative figures: Laozi and Zhuangzi. Works: "Tao Te Ching", "Zhuangzi"

Taoism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period, also known as "moralists". This school of thought is based on Laozi's theory of "Tao" in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and uses "Tao" to explain the nature, origin, composition and changes of all things in the universe. It believes that the way of heaven is inactive and all things come into being naturally. It denies that God and ghosts dominate everything. It advocates that Tao follows nature and lets nature take its course. It advocates quietness and inaction, keeping the feminine and soft, and using softness to overcome hardness. The political ideal is "a small country with few people" and "governing by doing nothing". After Laozi, Taoism internally divided into different sects, the famous four major sects: Zhuangzi School, Yang Zhu School, Song Yin School and Huanglao School.

3. Mohism: representative figure: Mozi. Work: "Mozi"

Mohism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period, and its founder was Mo Zhai.

This school of thought takes "loving each other and benefiting each other" as the basis of the theory: mutual love means treating others as oneself; universal love means loving others as oneself. "The world loves each other" and the goal of "mutual benefit" can be achieved. Politically, we advocate respecting the virtuous, advocating for unity, and non-aggression; economically, we advocate strengthening the local government; and ideologically, we advocate respecting heaven and serving ghosts. At the same time, he also put forward the idea of ??"non-fate" and emphasized that he should rely on his own strength to do it.

The Mohist family has a strict organization, and most of its members come from the lower classes of society. According to legend, they are all able to go through fire and knife to inspire themselves through hardship. Those who engage in debate are called "Mobian"; those who engage in martial arts are called "Moxia"; their leaders are called "Juzi". Its discipline is strict, and it is said that "the Mohist's law is to kill those who kill and punish those who injure others" ("Lu Shi Chun Qiu: Qu Si").

After Mo Zhai's death, he split into three factions. In the late Warring States period, they merged into two branches: one focused on the study of epistemology, logic, mathematics, optics, mechanics and other disciplines, and was called the "Moist School" (also known as the "Late Mohist School"); the other branch was transformed into the Qin and Han Dynasties. Social Ranger.

4. Legalism: Representative figures: Han Fei, Li Si. Work: "Han Feizi"

Legalism was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It was called Legalism because it advocated governing the country by law, "no distinction between relatives and strangers, no distinction between high and low, and no distinction between high and low." . During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong and Zichan were the pioneers of Legalism. In the early Warring States period, Li Kui, Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Shen Dao, etc. founded the Legalist school. By the end of the Warring States Period, Han Fei integrated Shang Yang's "method", Shen Dao's "power" and Shen Buhai's "technique" to assemble the culmination of Legalist thought and doctrine.

In terms of ideology and education, it advocates banning the theories of various schools of thought, using the law as teaching, and officials as teachers. His theory provided theoretical basis and action strategy for the establishment of a unified monarchy.

"Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" records 217 legalist works, nearly half of which are extant today, the most important of which are "Shang Junshu" and "Han Feizi".

5. Famous figures: Representative figures: Deng Xi, Hui Shi, Gongsun Long and Huan Tuan. Work: "Gongsun Longzi"

Mingjia was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. He was called a Mingjia by later generations because he was engaged in debating name (name, concept) and reality (facts, reality) as his main academic activity. . At that time, people called him "arguer", "chasser" or "famous expert in punishment (form)". The representative figures are Hui Shi and Gongsun Long.

6. Yin-Yang School: Representative: Zou Yan

The Yin-Yang School was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It was named after advocating the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements and using it to explain social and human affairs. This school of thought probably originated from the ruling class in charge of astronomy and calendars in ancient times. Its representative figure was Zou Yan, a native of Qi during the Warring States Period.

The theory of yin and yang believes that yin and yang are the positive and negative opposing and transforming forces of things themselves, which can be used to explain the laws of development and change of things. The Five Elements Theory believes that all things are composed of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. There are two laws of mutual generation and mutual victory (蜜) among them, which can be used to explain the origin and change of all things in the universe. Zou Yan synthesized the two and interpreted the attributes of the five elements as "five virtues" based on the theory of mutual generation and mutual victory of the five elements. He created the "theory of the beginning and end of the five virtues" and used it as the law for the rise and fall of dynasties in the past, and for the emerging unified dynasty. Provide theoretical basis for its establishment.

"Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" records twenty-one works of this school, all of which have been lost. The "Book of Rites·Yue Ling", written in the late Warring States period, is said by some to be the work of the Yin Yang family. Some chapters in "Guanzi" are also written by the Yin-Yang family. Some materials from the Yin-Yang family are preserved in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu Ying Tong", "Huainan Zi Qi Su Xun", and "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin".

7. Politicians: Representative figures: Su Qin, Zhang Yi. The main remarks are passed down in "Warring States Policy"

Strategists were counselors who used vertical and horizontal tactics to lobby the princes and engage in political and diplomatic activities during the Warring States Period in China. Listed as one of the hundred schools of thought. The main representatives are Su Qin, Zhang Yi, etc.

During the Warring States Period, the south and north were combined to form a vertical line, and the west and east were linked to form a horizontal line. Su Qin urged Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Qi, and Chu to unite vertically to resist Qin, while Zhang Yi tried his best to break the vertical union and join the vertical line. The six kingdoms of the Heng Dynasty each served the Qin Dynasty, and the Zong Heng family got its name from this. Their activities had an important impact on the changes in the political and military structure during the Warring States Period.

"Warring States Policy" contains extensive records of his activities. According to "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi", political strategists once wrote "Sixteen Masters and One Hundred and Seven Chapters".

8. Zajia: Representative figure: Lu Buwei

Zajia was a comprehensive school in the late Warring States period. He got his name because he "combined Confucianism, Mohism, and Ming and Dharma" and "comprehensively integrated all the Taoism of hundreds of schools of thought" ("Hanshu Yiwenzhi" and Yan Shigu's annotations). "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" compiled by Lu Buwei, Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, gathered his disciples and was a typical collection of miscellaneous works.

9. Nongjia,

Nongjia was one of the important schools of thought during the Warring States Period. It got its name because of its focus on agricultural production. This faction originated from the officials who managed agricultural production in ancient times. They believe that agriculture is the basis of food and clothing and should be placed first in all work. "Mencius. "Teng Wen Gong 1" records that Xu Xing, "the words of Shen Nong", proposed that sages should "farm and eat with the people, and govern well", which expresses the social and political ideals of farmers. This party also pays attention to recording and summarizing agricultural production technology and experience. Chapters such as "Shang Nong", "Ren Di", "Bian Tu", and "Jian Shi" in "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" are considered to be important materials for the study of pre-Qin farmers.

10. Novelists,

Novelists, one of the nine or ten pre-Qin dynasties, collect folk legends and discussions to examine people's customs. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" says: "The flow of novelists stems from the barnyard officials. Talking in the streets and alleys are created by those who listen to the nonsense."

A brief introduction to hundreds of schools of thought

Among the hundreds of scholars, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, stood out among the hundreds of scholars because he inherited the cultural orthodoxy of the Central Plains for three generations.

As a result, Confucianism not only has a prominent position among hundreds of schools of thought, but has also become the mainstream and core content of traditional culture, exerting an unparalleled influence on the formation of the national spirit of the Chinese people. In fact, we can say that Confucianism is not an academic or school in the usual sense. Confucianism is the cultural essence of the Chinese nation and an expression of China's inherent value system. It has penetrated into every capillary of traditional culture and greatly affected every field of Chinese culture. All doctrines, ideas, religious sects, and even foreign cultures and religions that originate from Chinese soil cannot avoid bearing traces of Confucian culture. For now, it's more than that. Confucianism has also had a permanent impact on world culture (we know that Japan and the "Four Little Dragons" promoted Confucianism after they had achieved or basically modernized to solve the crisis of faith and moral decline caused by modernization. Measures to correct shortcomings. The so-called "Southeast Asian cultural circle" is basically a cultural composition model with Confucianism as the main body. It has effectively promoted social civilization and progress in Southeast Asia. With the development of history, Confucian ethics is entering Western countries). .

Regarding the classification of the factions of the hundreds of schools of thought, Sima Tan listed six schools, "but on the key points of the six schools of thought: Yi Da Zhuan: 'The world is unified but has hundreds of considerations, and the same goal leads to differences. "Yin and Yang, Confucianism, Mohism, Ming, Dharma, and Morality are the rulers" ("Historical Records Tai Shi Gong's Preface") Liu Xin's "Qilue" in "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi". They are roughly divided into ten schools: Confucianism, Taoism, Yin and Yang, Fa, Ming, Mohism, Zongheng, Za, Nong, and Novel, so they are called "nine streams and ten schools". So it is a general term for political schools because the basic purpose of each school is to provide political strategies for the king. Confucianism advocates transforming the people with virtue; Taoism advocates governing by doing nothing; Legalism advocates that trust must be rewarded and punishment must be punished; Mohism advocates universal love and respect. The same; famous scholars advocated respecting Yan Bing. After the Han Dynasty, Mohism and famous scholars became unique schools, farming became an independent technical discipline, and Yin Yang School evolved into a mysterious alchemy. Therefore, only Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism influenced the politics of the subsequent unified dynasty.

Many thoughts of various schools of thought have left profound inspirations to future generations, such as Confucianism’s “benevolent government”, “Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you”; Mencius’s “Forgiveness”. Ancient democratic thought, Taoist dialectics, Mohist scientific thought, Legalist materialist thought, and military strategist's military thought are still shining brightly today. Even the famous "sophist" also created the field of logic in the history of Chinese philosophy. . We can and should learn from the Confucian spirit of virility and progress to inspire ourselves to work hard; learn from the Confucian spirit of public loyalty and service to the country to cultivate our patriotism; and learn from the Confucian spirit of "using justice to benefit". , to inspire you to treat material interests correctly, to learn from the Confucian spirit of benevolence, to cultivate your noble sentiments of loving the people; to learn from the Confucian concept of integrity, to cultivate your own self-esteem, self-improvement, and independent personality; and to learn from the Mohist concept of "concern" "Love", "Advocating the virtuous", "Frugality"; Taoism's "less selfishness and few desires", "Tao follows nature"; Legalism's "abolition of private and public affairs", etc.