Hundred Schools of Thought

The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophies and schools that flourished during the late Spring and Autumn period^[1] and Warring States period (c. 500 – 221 BC).^[2] The term was not used to describe these different philosophies until Confucianism, Mohism, and Legalism were created.^[3] The era in which they flourished was one of turbulence in China,^[4] fraught with chaos and mass militarization, but where Chinese philosophy was developed and patronized by competing bureaucracies. This phenomenon has been called the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought.

The philosophies that emerged during this period have profoundly influenced East Asian culture and societies. The intellectual landscape of this era was characterized by itinerant scholars, who were often employed by various state rulers as advisers on the way of government, war, and diplomacy. Often, members and traditions of the same school had little in common other than the same influential figure that their beliefs were based on.^[1] This period ended with the rise of the imperial Qin dynasty and the subsequent burning of books and burying of scholars as part of an ideological suppression effort by Qin Shi Huang and Li Si.^[5]