Chinese philosophy is the dominant philosophical thought in China and other countries within the
East Asian cultural sphere that
share a common language, including Japan,
Korea, and
Vietnam.
Schools of thought Hundred Schools of Thought The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from the 6th century to 221 BCE, an era of significant cultural and intellectual expansion in China. Even though this period – known in its earlier part as the
Spring and Autumn period and the
Warring States period – in its latter part was fraught with chaos and bloody battles, it is also known as the Golden Age of
Chinese philosophy because a broad range of thoughts and ideas were developed and discussed freely. 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. The
intellectual society of this era was characterized by itinerant scholars, who were often employed by various state rulers as advisers on the methods of
government,
war, and
diplomacy. This period ended with the rise of the
Qin dynasty and the subsequent
purge of dissent. The
Book of Han lists ten major schools, they are: •
Confucianism, which teaches that human beings are teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavors, especially including self-cultivation and self-creation. The main idea of Confucianism is the cultivation of virtue and the development of moral perfection. Confucianism holds that one should give up one's life, if necessary, either passively or actively, for the sake of upholding the cardinal moral values of
ren and
yi. •
Legalism. Often compared with
Machiavelli, and foundational for the traditional Chinese bureaucratic empire, the Legalists examined administrative methods, emphasizing a realistic consolidation of the wealth and power of autocrat and state. •
Taoism (also called Daoism), a philosophy which emphasizes the
Three Jewels of the Tao:
compassion,
moderation, and
humility, while Taoist thought generally focuses on
nature, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos;
health and
longevity; and
wu wei (action through inaction). Harmony with the
Universe, or the source thereof (Tao), is the intended result of many Taoist rules and practices. •
Mohism, which advocated the idea of universal love: Mozi believed that "everyone is equal before heaven" and that people 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 human cognition ought to be based on one's perceptions – one's sensory experiences, such as sight and hearing – instead of imagination or internal logic, elements founded on the human capacity for abstraction. Mozi advocated frugality, condemning the Confucian emphasis on ritual and music, which he denounced as extravagant. • Naturalism, the
School of Naturalists or the Yin-yang school, which synthesized the concepts of
yin and yang and the
Five Elements;
Zou Yan is considered the founder of this school. • Agrarianism, or the
School of Agrarianism, which advocated peasant
utopian communalism and
egalitarianism. The Agrarians believed that Chinese society should be modeled around that of the early sage king
Shen Nong, a folk hero which was portrayed in Chinese literature as "working in the fields, along with everyone else, and consulting with everyone else when any decision had to be reached." • The
Logicians or the School of Names, which focused on
definition and
logic. It is said to have parallels with that of the Ancient Greek
sophists or
dialecticians. The most notable Logician was
Gongsun Longzi. • The
School of Diplomacy or School of Vertical and Horizontal [Alliances], which focused on practical matters instead of any moral principle, stressed political and diplomatic tactics, debate, and lobbying skills. Scholars from this school were good orators, debaters, and tacticians. • The Miscellaneous School, which integrated teachings from different schools; for instance,
Lü Buwei found scholars from different schools to write a book called
Lüshi Chunqiu cooperatively. This school tried to integrate the merits of various schools and avoid their perceived flaws. • The School of "Minor-talks" was not a unique school of thought but a philosophy constructed of all the thoughts discussed by and originated from ordinary people on the street. • Another group is the School of the Military that studied strategy and the
philosophy of war;
Sunzi and
Sun Bin were influential leaders. However, this school was not one of the "Ten Schools" defined by Hanshu.
Early Imperial China The founder of the Qin dynasty, who implemented Legalism as the official philosophy,
quashed Mohist and Confucianist schools. Legalism remained influential until the emperors of the
Han dynasty adopted Daoism and later Confucianism as official doctrine. These latter two became the determining forces of Chinese thought until the introduction of Buddhism. Confucianism was particularly strong during the Han dynasty, whose greatest thinker was
Dong Zhongshu, who integrated Confucianism with the thoughts of the Zhongshu School and the theory of the Five Elements. He also was a promoter of the New Text school, which considered Confucius as a divine figure and a spiritual ruler of China, who foresaw and started the evolution of the world towards the Universal Peace. In contrast, there was an Old Text school that advocated the use of Confucian works written in ancient language (from this comes the denomination
Old Text) that were so much more reliable. In particular, they refuted the assumption of Confucius as a godlike figure and considered him as the greatest sage, but simply a human and mortal. The 3rd and 4th centuries saw the rise of the
Xuanxue (mysterious learning), also called
Neo-Taoism. The most influential philosophers of this movement were
Wang Bi,
Xiang Xiu and
Guo Xiang. The main question of this school was whether Being came before Not-Being (in Chinese,
ming and
wuming). A peculiar feature of these Taoist thinkers, like the
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, was the concept of
feng liu (lit. wind and flow), a sort of romantic spirit which encouraged following the natural and instinctive impulse.
Buddhism arrived in China around the 1st century AD, but it was not until the
Northern and Southern,
Sui and
Tang dynasties that it gained considerable influence and acknowledgement. In the beginning, it was considered a sort of Taoist sect, and there was even a theory about
Laozi, founder of Taoism, who went to India and taught his philosophy to
Buddha.
Mahayana Buddhism was far more successful in China than its rival
Hinayana, and both Indian schools and local Chinese sects arose from the 5th century. Two chiefly important monk philosophers were
Sengzhao and
Daosheng. But probably the most influential and original of these schools was the
Chan sect, which had an even stronger impact in Japan as the
Zen sect.
Philosophers •
Taoism •
Laozi (5th–4th century BCE) •
Zhuangzi (4th century BCE) •
Zhang Daoling •
Zhang Jue (died 184 CE) •
Ge Hong (283 – 343 CE) •
Confucianism •
Confucius •
Mencius •
Xun Zi ( – 230 BCE) •
Legalism •
Li Si •
Li Kui •
Han Fei • Mi Su Yu •
Shang Yang •
Shen Buhai •
Shen Dao •
Mohism •
Mozi • Song Xing •
Logicians •
Deng Xi •
Hui Shi (380–305 BCE) •
Gongsun Long ( – ) •
Agrarianism • Xu Xing •
Naturalism •
Zou Yan (305 – 240 BCE) •
Neotaoism •
Wang Bi •
Guo Xiang •
Xiang Xiu •
School of Diplomacy •
Guiguzi •
Su Qin (380 – 284 BCE) •
Zhang Yi (bef. 329 – 309 BCE) •
Yue Yi •
Li Yiji (268 – 204 BCE) • Military strategy •
Sunzi () •
Sun Bin (died 316 BCE) ==See also==