Period

Classical Chinese

c. 600 – 221 BCE

The 'Hundred Schools of Thought' of the late Zhou dynasty, ending with the unification of China under the Qin in 221 BCE.

During the politically fragmented Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, rival schools of thought — Confucians, Mohists, Daoists and Legalists among them — competed to advise rulers on how to govern and how to live. Their debates about human nature, virtue and social order shaped Chinese philosophy for the next two thousand years.

Traditions: Chinese

Philosophers

Laozifl. 600–500 BCE
Confuciusc. 551 – c. 479 BCE
Mozifl. 440–420 BCE
Menciusc. 372 – c. 289 BCE
Zhuangzifl. 350–300 BCE

Sources

Bryan W. Van Norden, Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy, Hackett Publishing