Who divided among the hundreds of schools of thought contending in ancient times?

The traditional division of hundreds of families originated from Sima Tan, the father of Sima Qian. In "On the Essentials of Six Schools", he divided the hundred schools of thought into six schools for the first time: "Yin and Yang, Confucianism, Mohism, Ming Dynasty, Dharma, and Taoism". Later, Liu Xin added "Zongheng, Za, Nong, and Novel" to the ten schools based on Sima Tan's classification in "Seven Strategies". Ban Gu is in "Han Shu." "Yi Wen Zhi" attacked Liu Xin and thought: "There are ten schools of thought, only nine of them are worth mentioning." Later, people went to "novelists" and called the remaining nine schools "nine streams".

Since then, ancient Chinese academic circles have followed Ban Gu, and hundreds of schools have become the "nine streams". Lu Simian, a modern scholar, added "military and medicine" to his book "Introduction to Pre-Qin Academics" and believed: "Therefore, the pre-Qin academics can be divided into Yin and Yang, Confucianism, Mohism, Ming, Dharma, Taoism, Zongheng, Za, etc. There are twelve schools of agriculture, novels, soldiers, and medicine."

Confucianism

Confucianism advocates "Zhou Rites" and believes that everyone should stay in their place and care for each other to achieve a great unity. The world is "benevolence". "Benevolence" is the core content of Confucianism. Its main contents are as follows:

Ethics: "Benevolence" is the general outline of ethics and morality. "Benevolence" means "loving others". The monarch should consider the sentiments of the people, cherish the people's strength, and oppose tyranny. To practice benevolence, you need "loyalty" and "forgiveness". "Loyalty" means to do one's duty; "forgiveness" means to treat oneself favorably and others. It advocates using "propriety" and "music" to restrain people's behavior and cultivate people's temperament.

Political outlook: Advocates governing the country with etiquette and justice, and restoring the rule of virtue in the Western Zhou Dynasty. People from all walks of life should perform their duties to achieve a harmonious hierarchical situation of "lord, minister, father, son, son". This is the idea of ??rectification of names.

Education view: Confucius proposed the idea that "there is no distinction between education and distinction", and believed that education should not distinguish between high and low, virtuous and foolish. He believes that "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" is the ideal teaching method. He also advocated learning methods such as "reviewing the past to learn new things" and "drawing inferences from one example".

Cosmology: The attitude towards ghosts and gods is to "live and ignore", advocating "respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them", but they attach great importance to ancestor worship.

Later, Mencius discussed "benevolence" with the "theory of good nature" and said, "Human beings are very different from animals." He believed that human nature is inherently good and possesses four kinds of goodness: compassion, shame, resignation, and right and wrong. , if carried forward, can become the virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.

Xunzi advocated the "theory of evil nature" and believed that humans are no different from animals. "When hungry, they want to be full, and when they are cold, they want to be warm." If we follow human nature, it will inevitably cause disputes. He advocated changing human nature through education and doing good and eliminating evil. Xunzi emphasized maintaining social order through "rule by etiquette" so that people from all walks of life can abide by their duties, and society will be stable.

The "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness" advocated by Confucianism have been respected by rulers and academic circles of all ages, and have become the core of traditional Chinese thought and the mainstream of morality.

Representative figures:

Confucius

Confucius, whose name was Qiu and whose courtesy name was Zhongni. According to historical records, he was born in the 22nd year of Lu Xianggong (551 BC) and died in the 16th year of Lu Aigong (479 BC), at the age of seventy-three. He is the founder of Confucianism and is revered by later generations as the "Teacher of All Times" and also known as the "Sage".

Confucius traveled around the country, and successively visited Wei, Chen, Cai, Chu, Song and other countries to promote his political ambitions, but he failed to get the point. Confucius could not stretch his ambitions and was disheartened, so he returned to the state of Lu. It was in the eleventh year of his service as Duke Ai of Lu that Confucius was sixty-eight years old. Since then, he devoted himself to lecturing and writing books. During this period, he and his disciples re-edited the Five Classics and wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals in order to record the major events that occurred in the Spring and Autumn Period and to elucidate Confucian values.

Five years later, Confucius died at the age of seventy-three. Later, the disciples excerpted the teacher's life's words, eliminating the unnecessary and retaining the essence, and compiled it into "The Analects of Confucius", which became a must-read classic of Confucianism.

Mencius

Mencius’s name was Ke, his courtesy name was Ziyu, and he was also named Ziche and Ziju. He was born in the fourth year of King Zhou Lie (372 BC) and died in the 26th year of King Nan (289 BC). He is a second disciple of Confucius' grandson Si.

Under the education of his mother, Mencius studied hard. After completing his studies, he appointed himself as the successor of Confucius, recruited disciples, and traveled to various countries to promote the ideas of "benevolent government" and "kingly way". He visited Qi, Song, Lu, Teng, Liang and other countries, and met kings such as King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi. Although he was respected and treated with courtesy, he was considered conservative and not in line with the trends of the time, and was not reused. Only Teng Wengong tried to promote his political ideas.

In his later years, Mencius returned to his hometown to give lectures, and he and his disciples Wan Zhang, Gongsun Chou and others were engaged in writing books and wrote seven chapters of "Mencius". Its chapters are: King Hui of Liang, Gongsun Chou, Teng Wengong, Li Lou, Wan Zhang, Gao Zi and Jin Xin. Since each chapter has a large weight, it is divided into upper and lower chapters, so the whole book has fourteen volumes. Almost all of Mencius' remarks and deeds are preserved in these seven chapters.

Xun Zi

235), a famous thinker and educator in the late Warring States Period. There are few records about Xunzi and they are quite inconsistent. Xunzi is the greatest Confucian scholar after Confucius and Mencius. His thoughts were recorded in the book "Xunzi" and had a broad and far-reaching impact on China's feudal society for more than two thousand years. Xunzi once traveled to Yan, Qi, Chu, Qin and Zhao countries, and later lived in Lanling until his death.

While in Lanling, Xunzi began to teach and write books. The famous Han Fei and Li Si were his students at this time. He also completed his representative work-"Xunzi" during this period. Although Xunzi was the successor of Confucianism, he did not blindly accept all Confucianism. On the contrary, Xunzi integrated and developed Confucianism and put forward theories such as "nature is inherently evil" that have far-reaching influence on later generations.

Taoism

"Tao" is the ideological center of Lao-Zhuang's theory and the source of all things. "Tao" is also an endless cycle. Taoism emphasizes that there is no need to force everything, and one should follow nature to achieve the highest state of "Tao". The Taoist spirit lies in spiritual detachment, not limited by body and drive, but only seeking freedom and spiritual openness. The following are Taoist concepts: Cosmology: "Tao" is invisible and invisible. It is the absolute spirit that transcends time and space. It is the highest ontology of the universe and the source of all things.

Political View: During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, wars continued and people's livelihoods were difficult. People must give up showing off their talent, wisdom, strength, and strength, return to the realm of simplicity and ignorance, and govern the world with "inaction". Peace and stability. Ultimately, we hope to return to the primitive society of "a small country with few people".

Outlook on life: Everything has its opposite, and everything must be reversed at its extreme. Therefore, people must "be content with few desires", "be weak and non-competitive", "accommodate nature" and abandon all shackles of etiquette in order to avoid disasters.

Representative figures:

Laozi

According to general records, Laozi’s surname is Li, his given name is Er, and his courtesy name is Boyang. His birth and death years are unknown. One theory is that he was born in AD In 604 BC, he was born in Qurenli, Lixiang, Chuku County, and his posthumous title was Dan. Some people call him Li Er, while others call him Lao Dan. When Laozi cultivates morality, his master teaches the theory of inaction, and his main task is to hide himself in anonymity. Many scholars believe that Lao Tzu was from the Warring States Period, but more people think that Lao Tzu was from the Spring and Autumn Period.

The theory of Taoism is based on Laozi. Laozi's "Tao Te Ching" is a book of five thousand words. The theory of the origin of the natural universe also proposes the ontological idea that the principle of the existence and operation of the world is "the movement of the opposite Tao". For humans living in it, what they should learn is the wisdom of life. Laozi also put forward numerous political, social and philosophical views on life, advocating "ruling by doing nothing, a small country with few people".

Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi, named Zhou and Zixiu, was a Mongolian native of the Song Dynasty. He lived and died from about 369 BC to 286 BC. According to "Historical Records", he was married to King Hui of Liang. , King Xuan of Qi at the same time.

In his early years, Zhuangzi worked as a lacquer garden official in Mongolia, but he lived in seclusion ever since. He lived in poverty, but was indifferent to fame and wealth. When the King of Chu heard of his virtue, he sent an envoy to offer him a thousand pieces of gold and asked him to become prime minister, but he refused. So he never returned to official duties and lived in seclusion in Baodu Mountain.

Zhuangzi was knowledgeable and had many friends. He wrote a book called "Zhuangzi". The remaining ten thousand words are mostly fables. He acted as a fisherman, a robber, and a thief, in order to slander Confucius' disciples and to learn about Laozi's skills.

The Mohist School

Saluting the virtuous and advocating unity is the basic political program of the Mohist school. Mohism and Confucianism are both called "Xianxue". The following is the Mohist concept.

Ethics: Proposes "universal love", advocating that love should not have distinctions between closeness, superiority, inferiority, and hierarchy. He believes that the reason why the world is in chaos is because people do not love each other.

Political outlook: Advocates "respecting the worthy" and "respecting the same", advocating the selection of talented people, eliminating class concepts, and bringing order to the world, advocating "non-offensive", and opposing all aggressive wars.

Economic outlook: Opposes luxurious life, advocates frugality, and puts forward the ideas of "frugal use", "frugal burial" and "not happiness".

Cosmology: It proposes "non-fate" and believes that fate cannot control people's wealth and poverty, emphasizing that it can be changed only through acquired efforts. In order to seek blessings and avoid disasters, he also advocated "respecting heaven" and "serving ghosts".

The Mohists emphasize hard work and frugality. "Universal love" is more difficult to follow than "benevolence", and because there are fewer records, it will not develop much in the future.

Representative figures:

Mozi

A thinker and scholar at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, and the founder of the Mohist school. His surname was Mo and his given name was Zhai. He was born and died from about 468 BC to 376 BC. He was a native of the Lu State and some say of the Song State. Mozi was born a commoner and called himself "the humble man of the north". He was also known as "the common man" and "the bitch".

He was a senior official in the Song Dynasty. He boasted that "there is nothing for the emperor to do above, and there is no difficulty for farmers below". He was a scholar who sympathized with "farmers and workers"; he once studied under Shi Later, he passed on his method of clearing temples; he also studied Confucianism and learned the techniques of Confucius, and praised Yao, Shun, and Yu. He was known in "Poems", "Books", and "Spring and Autumn Annals". He was dissatisfied with the strictness of Confucian rituals and music, so he abandoned the Zhou Dynasty. Dao and use Xia Zheng.

Promote non-aggression, respect for the virtuous, respect for the same, frugal use, frugal burial, non-happiness, heaven's will, bright ghosts, and non-fate, with universal love as the core. He is a man who "corrects himself with rope and ink and prepares for the emergencies of the world." In order to promote his ideas, Mozi recruited many students and disciples, and usually had hundreds of disciples, forming a powerful Mohist school. Mozi spoke of "lords and princes" in his teachings, and "people on foot" in his teachings. He almost "said it from others". Wherever he traveled, he reached Qi in the east, Zheng and Wei in the west, and Chu and Yue in the south.

Mozi was a man of great erudition and was good at craftsmanship and production. He once made a "wooden kite" that could fly for three days and three nights. He was also good at city defense techniques, and later learned to summarize his experience in "City Defense" 21. He also made achievements in the field of name debate and became one of the ancestral sources of the name debate trend in the Warring States Period. Mozi's deeds can be found in "Xunzi", "Hanfeizi", "Zhuangzi", "Lu Shi Chunqiu", "Huainan Yu" and other books respectively. His thoughts are mainly preserved in the book "Mozi" of the Mohist school.

Legalism

Among the pre-Qin scholars, Legalism was the group that paid the most attention to law. It advocated "ruling the country by law" and put forward a complete set of theories and methods. This provided an effective theoretical basis for the centralized Qin Dynasty that was later established. The later Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty's centralized system and legal system and became the political and legal subject of ancient Chinese feudal society.

Legalism attaches great importance to law, opposes Confucian "rituals", opposes the hereditary privileges of aristocrats monopolizing economic and political interests, and requires the private ownership of land and the award of official positions based on merit and talent. The function of the law is to "determine disputes and settle disputes," that is, to clarify the ownership of objects. "Exerting meritorious service and fearing violence" encourages people to perform military exploits and make those lawless people feel fear. The ultimate goal of meritorious service is to enrich the country and strengthen the army and win the annexation war.

Legalism opposed conservative retro-thinking and advocated reform. They believe that history is moving forward, and all laws and systems must develop with the development of history. They can neither retrogress or retrogress, nor stick to the past and put forward the idea of ??"not following the past, not the present." Han Fei gathered the Mahayana of Legalism and proposed that "time changes and governance becomes difficult, chaos will occur", mocking the conservative Confucians as stupid people who wait and wait.

Shang Yang, Shen Dao, and Shen Buhai respectively advocated emphasis on law, emphasis on power, and emphasis on technique, each with its own characteristics. Han Fei proposed the idea of ??closely integrating the three. Law refers to the sound legal system; Shi refers to the power of the monarch, who must be solely responsible for military and political power; Technique refers to the strategies and means of controlling ministers, controlling political power, and implementing laws, mainly to detect and prevent rebellion and maintain the status of the monarch.

Representative figures:

Han Fei

Han Fei, surnamed Han and given name Fei, was a Korean in the late Warring States Period. He was born into a noble family and was a son of Korea. He was born in the same year and had blood relatives. No longer available for examination, he died in 233 BC. Han Fei stuttered and was not good at speaking, but he was good at writing books. Han Fei and Li Si were classmates and studied together under Xunzi.

Han Fei saw that South Korea was weak at that time and tried to remonstrate with the King of Han several times, but the King of Han listened. Han Fei hated running the country without establishing the rule of law, without enriching the country and strengthening the army, and instead relied on those who had no practical experience and were prone to talk nonsense. So he observed the changes in gain and loss in the past, and wrote more than 100,000 words of "Gu Anger", "Five Worms", "Inner and Outer Storage", "Shuo Lin" and "Shuo Nan", becoming the master of Legalist thought. After the book was completed and passed to the Qin State, the King of Qin read it and said, "Wow! I will never hate this person if I see him traveling with him." Han Fei's work was praised by Qin Shihuang.

Qin attacked Han, and the King of Han originally did not use Han Fei. When Qin's attack became urgent, the King of Han appointed Han Fei as an envoy to Qin. The King of Qin was very happy to see Han Fei, but he did not believe him. Li Si believed that Han Fei was a prince of South Korea and would eventually serve Han rather than Qin. Therefore, he suggested to the King of Qin that since Han Fei was not needed, it would be better to kill him to avoid future troubles. The King of Qin thought so and ordered the law to be cured. Li Si secretly sent someone to send Han Fei poison to make him commit suicide. Han Fei showed his talent but failed to find it, and was eventually killed by his classmates.

Shang Yang

Shang Yang (390 BC to 338 BC), whose surname was Gongsun and whose given name was Yang Yang. He was granted the title of Shang Yi during the reign of Duke Xiao of Qin, so he was named Shang Yang and his title was Shang Jun. . Shang Yang was the son of a common man in the state of Wei, so he was also called Wei Yang. Shang Yang's predecessor, Wei Xianggong's uncle Cuo, was the concubine. Gongshu Cuo knew that Shang Yang had talents but was not reused, so he recommended Shang Yang to King Hui of Wei. Shang Yang was not accepted by King Hui. After the death of his uncle Cuo, he heard that Duke Xiao ordered the country to seek virtuous people, so Shang Yang went west to Qin.

After Shang Yang entered Qin, Qin Xiaogong received him four times. Duke Xiao did not want the Confucian way of benevolent government and moral governance, but believed in hegemony, which was consistent with Shang Yang's Legalist thoughts, and promoted the most thorough reform movement in Qin.

Shang Yang carried out two reforms before and after the Qin State, which relatively completely abolished the old system and implemented a new system, which made the Qin State become strong and prosperous quickly and became the first-class powerful country in the Warring States Period. Later, Shang Yang himself was framed by the conservative aristocracy and sentenced to death by being broken into pieces.

Mingjia

Mingjia is a school that advocates abiding by names and responsibility for reality. It advocates "correcting names and facts", which is exactly "correcting the rights and wrongs of each other so that names and reality are consistent." During the Warring States Period, the situation was turbulent and chaotic. Many rituals exist in name only. Famous scholars emerged from this, emphasizing that things should "live up to their name" in order to put everything in the world on the right track.

Famous scholars focus on debating the relationship between "name" and "reality", which is a kind of logic. The difference between famous artists and other schools lies in the method of "correcting the name and reality". They mainly analyze things based on logical principles, and the content of their debates are mostly philosophical issues that have nothing to do with political practice. Therefore, the theories of famous scholars have always been given the reputation of "sophism" in the academic history of China for five thousand years.

The decline of famous scholars is not only because they are not supported by their superiors, but also because their disciples have no innovative ideas that can surpass their predecessors.

Representative figures

Gongsun Long

Gongsun Long, a native of Zhao or Wei, has the passing name Zibing. He was born in about the forty-fourth year of Zhou Xian and died in the sixth year of Zhou Huigong. His life was at the same time as Zhuangzi, Hui Shi, Mencius and Zou Yan. Because Gongsun Long "specializes in names" and adheres to names, his debates are mainly carried out by language itself, and are separated from the debate on specific and empirical things.

Gongsun Long was good at debating similarities and differences, reaching his peak state. His main debates include: White Horse Theory, Pointing to Things Theory, Jianbai Theory, Name and Reality Theory, etc.

Hui Shi

Hui Shi, born in 370 BC (or 380 BC) and died in 310 BC, was a famous scholar of the Song Dynasty in the middle of the Warring States Period and the originator of famous scholars. , was a friend of Zhuangzi, and once served as the prime minister of Wei (King Hui of Liang); later Hui Shi's activities to unite Qi and Chu failed and was expelled by Zhang Yi.

Hui Shi was quick-thinking, erudite and eloquent, good at eloquence and logical reasoning. He once set off a climax of famous debate with Huan Tuan, Gongsun Long and other debaters, so there is a saying "Hui Shi debated with him, Ten thousand stones should be cautious."

Yin-Yang School

In terms of the view of nature, the Yin-Yang School used the concept of yin and yang in the "Book of Changes" to put forward the theory of cosmic evolution; they also proposed the theory of cosmology based on the "division of nine states" in the "Book of Changes" The "Great Kyushu" theory believes that China is the Chixian State, with the Small Kyushu within and one of the "Great Kyushu" outside.

In terms of historical perspective, the Five Elements concept in "Shang Shu" is transformed into "Five Virtues Ending and Beginning", also known as "Five Virtues Transfer". "Five virtues" refers to the attributes of the five elements, namely earth virtue, wood virtue, metal virtue, water virtue and fire virtue. According to the Yin Yang School, everything in the universe corresponds to the Five Elements, each with its own virtues. The movement of heaven, the changes in the human world, the replacement of dynasties, etc. are the result of the "transfer of the Five Virtues." Its purpose was to demonstrate the social changes at that time.

In terms of political ethics, the Yin-Yang School believes that "benevolence, righteousness, and frugality are limited to the charity of the emperor and his ministers, superiors and subordinates" and supports the Confucian theory of benevolence and righteousness. At the same time, it is emphasized that "due to the great harmony of yin and yang", it contains certain knowledge of astronomy, calendar, meteorology and geography, which has certain scientific value.

The Yin-Yang School still existed in the early Han Dynasty. After Emperor Wu dismissed all schools of thought, some of its contents were integrated into the Confucian ideological system and some of its contents were absorbed by primitive Taoism. As an independent school, the Yin-Yang School ceased to exist.

Representative figures:

Zou Yan

Zou Yan (about 305 BC to 240 BC), a native of Qi State, a representative figure of the Yin and Yang family, Because of his profound knowledge and grand arguments, he was known as Tan Tianyan, also known as Zou Zi.

There are some errors in his deeds recorded in old history, but it is certain that he was from the late Warring States Period. Zou Yan once traveled to Xuejixia Academy, where he was more knowledgeable than Qi. When he arrived in Wei, he was welcomed by King Hui of Wei in the suburbs. When he arrived at Zhao, Lord Pingyuan treated him as a guest and a host. When he arrived at Yan, King Zhao of Yan personally swept the dust in front of him, listened to his lectures, built a stone palace for him, and held disciple ceremonies. Therefore, it is speculated that he may have died after the Battle of Changping.

Zou Yan’s works "Zou Zi" and "Zou Zi Beginning" are said to have more than 100,000 words, but they have been lost long ago. At present, only some passages of "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" and Sima Qian's "Historical Records" can reveal his thoughts.

Zhenghengjia

"Zong" means "combination of verticals", and "horizontal" means "connecting horizontally".

The so-called "joint vertical" refers to the diplomatic strategy of the six countries including Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, and Wei during the Warring States Period to unite against Qin.

The so-called "Lian Heng" refers to the diplomatic strategy of the above six countries to form an alliance with Qin respectively.

The origin of "vertical" and "horizontal" is said to be because the north-south direction is called "vertical" and the east-west direction is called "horizontal". The alliance of the six countries was a north-south alliance, so it was called "United Vertical"; the six countries' alliance with Qin was an east-west alliance, so it was called "Lianheng". The so-called "strategist" refers to a person who advocates the diplomatic strategy of "unity" or "unity".

Su Qin and Zhang Yi are called the most famous strategists. Without Su and Zhang, there would be no combined vertical and horizontal strategists, and naturally there would be no so-called political strategists and political strategists. The theories of Su Qin and Zhang Yi are mostly scattered in history books, but there are few monographs.

Representative figures:

Su Qin

Su Qin’s courtesy name is Ji Zi. A native of Luoyang in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty during the Warring States Period. He learned the art of vertical and horizontal lobbying and persuaded other countries. When he first arrived in Qin, he appealed to King Hui, but he didn't use it. He went east to Zhao, Yan, Han, Wei, Qi, and Chu, and lobbied the six countries to unite to control Qin. He ministered to the Six Kingdoms, returned to Zhao, and was named Lord Wu'an by Zhao. Later, Qin sent people to deceive Qi, Wei and attack Zhao. The six countries could not cooperate and the alliance collapsed.

He moved to Yan and moved to Qi, where he became a guest of Qi. He competed with Doctor Qi for favor and was killed. One theory is that he entered Qi from Yan and engaged in anti-insurgency activities, which enabled Yan to defeat Qi. Later, his anti-insurgency activities were exposed and he was killed by Qi's chariot.

Zonghengjia had thirty-one chapters of "Su Zi", which are lost today. The silk book "Book of the Warring States Strategists" unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb contains sixteen chapters of Su Qin's letters and lobbying speeches, which is different from the "Historical Records: Biography of Su Qin".

Zhang Yi

Zhang Yi was a native of Wei and a famous strategist during the Warring States Period. When he entered Qin during the reign of King Hui of Wei, Lord Qin Huiwen became a guest. In 328 BC, Qin sent Zhang Yi and Gongzi Hua to attack Wei, and Wei ceded Shangjun to Qin. At that time, Zhang Yi was the prime minister of Qin.

Hui Wenjun became king in the thirteenth year (325 BC), and changed the following year to the first year of Gengyuan. In the second year of Gengyuan, Zhang Yi met with the ruling ministers of Qi, Chu and Wei in Zhisang, and then he was relieved of his duties. The next year, Zhang Yi came to Wei, and in the eighth year of Gengyuan, he came to Qin again.

In the twelfth year, Zhang Yi came to Chu and later returned to Qin. After King Huiwen died, King Wu came to the throne. There was a rift with Zhang Yi, so he left Qin and went to Wei. According to the "Bamboo Book Annals", he died in Wei in May of that year. "Hanshu Yiwenzhi" contains ten chapters of "Zhang Zi" in the strategist category, which collects Zhang Yi's works or materials related to him, which are now lost.

Miscellaneous Family

Strictly speaking, "Miscellaneous Family" is not a conscious and inherited school of thought, so he does not claim to be a "Miscellaneous Family" school. Since "Han Shu. After "Yiwenzhi" classified "Lu's Spring and Autumn Period" into "Miscellaneous Family" for the first time, this school was officially named.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended, each with their own strategies and ideas for governing the country. In order to defeat other schools, each school more or less absorbs the theories of other schools, either to attack the other school, or to make up for the shortcomings of its own theory. However, every school also has its own characteristics and strengths, and the "Miscellaneous Family" makes full use of this characteristic, draws on the opinions of many people, and develops a set of ideologically inclusive but practical policies for governing the country.

Representative figures:

Lü Buwei

Lü Buwei was originally from Puyang, Wei State. He was a famous politician in the late Warring States period. He served as the prime minister of Qin for thirteen years and was the final unifier of Qin. The Six Nations laid the foundation.

Lu Buwei has been selling expensive goods for a long time and accumulated a large amount of family property. But he was not satisfied with his status as a big businessman and was always looking for opportunities to join politics.

One year, he went to Handan, the capital of Zhao State, to do business and met the prince of Qin State. At that time, the foreigner was a hostage in Zhao, and the situation was not very good. Lu Buwei thought that "a rare thing could be lived in," so he first gave it money and beautiful women to win the foreigner's favor. Then, he persuaded Mrs. Huayang's sister to bribe King Qin Xiaowen to buy Mrs. Huayang as the prince.

After the death of King Xiaowen of Qin in 250 BC, the young master Yiren was able to return to the country and ascend the throne. He was called King Zhuangxiang of Qin. After the death of King Qin Zhuangxiang, King Qin Yingzheng came to the throne. Lu Buwei was honored as "Zhongfu" and acted as regent for King Qin.

After Qin Wangzheng came to power, Lu Buwei was dismissed. He first lived in Henan and later studied in Shu County. In the twelfth year of Qin Wangzheng's reign, he committed suicide on the way to Shu County. The famous "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" was compiled by his disciples.

Farmers

Farmers come from farming families. He said that he would sow hundreds of grains and encourage farmers to grow mulberry trees to have enough food and clothing. Therefore, there are eight policies: one is food, and the second is goods. Even Confucius said: "The most important thing is food for the people." Therefore, this can be seen as its strength.

Farmers advocate farming together with the people, and then talk about the monarch and the people farming together. This can be said to be a great concept of freedom and equality, so it inevitably arouses opposition from Confucianists who attach great importance to "rectification of names", thinking that this is Abandoning the righteousness of ruler and ministers, favoring the benefits of farming, and disrupting the order of superiors and subordinates.

Because most of the peasant books were farming skills rather than academic principles, they were exempted from Qin Shihuang’s "Book Burning Order". However, his highest ideal is to work with the people. Although it is a slogan for an equal class, it cannot be tolerated by Confucianists, so many of his works have been lost.

Representative figures:

Xu Xing

Xu Xing was an agricultural expert in the Lu State, a representative figure of farmers in the pre-Qin period, and a speaker of Shen Nong. .

Most of his deeds cannot be tested. According to "Mencius and Duke Wen of Teng", he once traveled from Chu to Teng, went to the door and told Duke Wen: "People from far away, hearing that you are benevolent, are willing to accept a piece of paper and become a gangster." Duke Wen added. Chen Liang's disciple Chen Xiang, together with his younger brother Xin, came from Teng in the Song Dynasty and said: "I heard that you are practicing the government of a saint. You are also a saint, and I wish to be a saint." When Chen Xiang saw Xu Xing, he was overjoyed and gave up. He learned his skills from Xu Xing.

In addition, Xu Xingzhu drew the market price based on quantity.

Novelist

The origin of novelists should be attributed to those who make a living by telling stories. Its meaning is mostly created by street talk and hearsay. It has been passed down and recited by people, and the beauty of the poem is inscribed in Chu Cui.

In ancient times, people regarded saints as their superiors, history as a book, blindness as a poem, workers recited admonitions, officials prescribed instructions, scholars spread rumors, and common people often slandered them. When he arrived in Mengchun, he went to Muduo to listen to songs and inspected people's poems to learn about customs. If you make mistakes, you will correct them; if you make mistakes, you will correct them. Hear what you hear, and you will not be disciplined.

Novelists can represent the customs of the common people. However, because of its small way, it is not valued by the world and will eventually be destroyed.

Representative figures:

Yu Chu

Yu Chu was a native of Luoyang, Henan Province in the Western Han Dynasty. Many of his deeds have been lost. According to "Historical Records" and "Han Zhi", Yu Chu served as an alchemist's minister during the reign of Emperor Wu. He rode a horse and wore yellow clothes, and was known as the Yellow Messenger. It is recorded in "Jiao Si Zhi": "Luoyang Yu Chu and others blocked the Xiongnu and Dayuan with their square words."

Although Yu Chu was from the Western Han Dynasty, his contribution to the novelist was the compilation of Cong Tan's novels. According to Zhang Heng's Xijing Fu: "Nine hundred novels were originally written by Yu Chu." This shows Yu Chu's status in compiling novels.

Yu Chu wrote "Yu Chu Zhou Shuo", which is a compilation of his novels. There are nearly a thousand chapters in it, and it is nothing more than a compilation. However, the volumes were numerous and easily lost, so the book was lost early.

Military strategist

Military strategist is a general term for strategists and military strategists in ancient China, and specifically refers to the faction that studied strategy and war in the pre-Qin period. The important works of the military strategist include "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Wu Zi", "Sun Bin's Art of War", "Sima Fa", "Six Tao", "Three Strategies" and "Wei Liao Zi".

The culmination of military strategists is Sun Wu’s "The Art of War". Military strategists have always been valued in China since ancient times. The development of military art in China has a long history. Military art originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty and matured in the Spring and Autumn Period.

How to grasp war from a macro perspective is the key to the art of war. War is a continuation of politics, a major matter related to the life or death of a country or a nation or its enslavement.

The Art of War can also be regarded as a guide on how to rule a country and formulate national strategies; it is also a book on how to lead troops in war and formulate war strategies and tactics.

Representative figures:

Sun Wu

Sun Wu, a native of Qi, with the courtesy name Changqing, was a strategist of war in the Spring and Autumn Period. He once met King Helu of Wu with Chapter 13 of "The Art of War". After Wu Zixu's recommendation, he was appointed as a general and led the Wu army to attack Chu.

He believed that "soldiers are the most important thing in the country" and proposed that "know your enemy and yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger". He focused on understanding the situation and comprehensively analyzed the contradictions between the enemy and ourselves, the numbers, strength and weakness, actual situation, offense and defense, advance and retreat, etc. And through understanding and mastering the objective laws of war to defeat the enemy. He also proposed that "army has no constant momentum, and water has no constant shape. It can win due to the changes of the enemy, which is called a god." He emphasized the "coexistence of strange and positive" and flexible use of strategy and tactics.

Sun Wu wrote "The Art of War", which is China's most outstanding military book and is highly valued around the world.

Sun Bin

A descendant of Sun Wu from Ajuan of Qi State, roughly the same time as Shang Yang and Meng Ke, he was a military strategist during the Warring States Period. He once studied the art of war with Pang Juan. When Pang Juan was the general of King Hui of Wei, he was afraid of his talents and deceived him into Wei State. Later, he was secretly brought back by the Qi envoys and was appointed as a military advisor by King Wei of Qi. He assisted Qi general Tian Ji and designed to defeat the Wei army in Guiling and Maling.

He inherited and developed Sun Wu's military theory, regarded "Tao" as the objective law of war, and proposed the tactics of defeating the many with the few

and the weak against the strong, and advocated An offensive-focused strategy creates favorable offensive situations based on different terrains, and attaches great importance to the attack on cities and the use of battle strategies. He is the author of the book "Sun Bin's Art of War".

Physicians

The formation of Chinese medical theory took place from the second half of the fifth century BC to the middle of the third century AD, which took more than seven hundred years. In the second half of the fifth century BC, China began to enter feudal society. The transition from slave society to feudal society and the establishment of the feudal system was a period of great turmoil in Chinese history. Changes in social systems have promoted economic development, and new situations have emerged in the fields of ideology and science and culture, including the development of medicine. Physicians generally refer to all people who practice medicine.

Representative figures:

Bian Que

Bian Que was a native of Luyi, Qi State, and was also recorded as a native of Bohai County or Zheng, Bohai County. "Bian Que" is not his real name. People compared him with Bian Que during the Yellow Emperor's time and called him "Mr. Bian Que". Even history books call him Bian Que. Bian Que's original surname was Qin, and his name was from Yue. Born from 407 BC to 310 BC, about the same time as Confucius. Since Bian Que was from Lu, people also called him "Doctor Lu". Bian Que is a famous medical scientist in Chinese history and the first medical scientist in history to have an official biography.

Bian Que was able to adopt a pragmatic attitude to study medicine and absorb folk medical experience. He made great achievements in medicine and enjoyed a high reputation among the people. Bian Que has been practicing medicine among the people for a long time and traveled to Qi, Zhao, Wei, Zheng and Qin countries.

In 310 BC, the Qin imperial physician who was jealous of his talents ordered Li Mi to send people to set up an ambush in Xiaoshan and assassinate Bian Que. He died at the age of ninety-seven.