The Philosophical Struggle That Defined China - Hundred Schools of Thought

Summary

Before Confucianism became the dominant philosophy in China, it faced fierce competition from a myriad of other schools of thought during a period known as the Hundred Schools of Thought. This intellectual struggle took place during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods when ideas were freely exchanged and debated. Major schools like Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism vied for influence, particularly in the courts of rulers where political power could be harnessed. Although Confucianism eventually emerged victorious, this win was somewhat fortuitous, allowing it to shape Chinese civilization for centuries. The video explores the contributions and unique perspectives of these various schools and ponders how different Chinese society might be had another philosophy triumphed.

Highlights

• Confucianism wasn't always dominant; it had to battle other philosophies during the Hundred Schools of Thought era. ⚔️
• Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism were part of the ideological contenders influencing Chinese rulers. 🌟
• Legalism nearly became the predominant philosophy under Qin Shi Huang, China's First Emperor. 👑
• The draconian laws of Legalism led to revolts and the rapid fall of the Qin Dynasty. 🏛️
• Confucianism’s victory was partly due to luck and persistent influence at the Han Court. 🍀
• The Han Dynasty's embrace of Confucianism set the stage for its long-term influence in China. 🏯
• The video explores what a different outcome in the war of ideas might have meant for China's future. 🌸

Key Takeaways

• Confucianism's rise to dominance was not a given; it triumphed in a fierce intellectual war. 🤯
• The Hundred Schools of Thought fostered a vibrant marketplace of ideas, influencing rulers and society alike. 🧠
• Major schools included Taoism, with its focus on natural law, and Legalism, emphasizing strict rules. 📜
• Maoism combined impartial care with defensive warfare techniques, showing its adaptability. 🤝🛡️
• The School of Diplomacy showcased strategic alliances, influencing political landscapes. 🌍
• The Qin Dynasty's legalism-driven approach almost erased other philosophies but led to its downfall. 🔥
• Confucianism eventually became state philosophy due to its persistence and a dash of luck. 🍀
• The video invites viewers to imagine alternate historical outcomes with different philosophies. 🤔

Overview

Once upon a time, in ancient China, the intellectual scene was buzzing with a vibrant exchange of ideas during the period known as the Hundred Schools of Thought. It wasn't just Confucius and his teachings that were in contention; philosophies like Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism, among others, were battling for supremacy. This era was a free marketplace of ideas, where the ultimate prize was influencing the rulers of the many states across China. 🔥

The saga of these schools of thought is as intricate as a tapestry, with each thread representing a unique perspective on life, governance, and the universe itself. From the natural harmony advocated by Taoism to the rigid laws of Legalism, and the egalitarian principles of Mohism, each school had its champions and critics. Legalism, at one point, seemed poised to dominate the philosophical world under the iron fist of Qin Shi Huang, but its harshness led to its undoing. 🚩

Confucianism's path to becoming the state philosophy was neither straight nor assured. It took a mix of tenacity, strategic alliance, and sheer fortune for Confucianism to rise to prominence during the Han Dynasty. This twist of fate cemented its influence over Chinese civilization for generations. Yet, the video playfully challenges us to imagine a China where another school of thought, perhaps a logical, rational state, or a Maoist peace-loving society, might have taken the crown. 🤔

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Confucianism Confucianism is a major philosophy in China influencing all aspects of civilization including interpersonal relationships, customs, rituals, and ethics. Before its dominance, around 2,000 years ago, Confucianism competed against numerous other philosophies in pre-Imperial China's intellectual landscape.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Hundred Schools of Thought The chapter titled 'The Hundred Schools of Thought' covers the historical period in China known as the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States era. During this time, there was a vibrant and competitive intellectual atmosphere characterized by a 'war of ideas.' Various schools of thought like Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Mohism emerged and competed for influence. Despite facing numerous challenges, Confucianism ultimately prevailed and rose to prominence over the others.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Major Schools of Thought The chapter explores the concept of major schools of thought, mentioning that influencing the masses is important but gaining favor with rulers is considered the ultimate achievement.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Confucianism This chapter introduces Confucianism as a crucial philosophy and governing system. It is mentioned as part of a context of various technical skills and schools, including military and diplomacy, and combinations like mo Isom. Confucianism is highlighted for its emphasis on kindness and respect towards others, including a recommendation for rulers to extend these values.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Taoism and Other Schools The chapter explores the school of thought initiated by Confucius, which advocated for rulers to treat their subjects humanely, resulting in subjects showing deference to their rulers. Confucius didn’t create this idea but promoted traditional values from the Zhou Dynasty and earlier, aiming to extend these values of the nobles to the masses. The text also touches upon Taoism as both a philosophy and religion.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Mohism and Logicians The chapter 'Mohism and Logicians' discusses the philosophical perspectives encouraging living in harmony with the Tao, or the way, similar to the natural law of the universe. It contrasts with Confucianism by emphasizing minimal intervention and bureaucracy, highlighting that sometimes less interference can achieve better outcomes.
• 03:00 - 03:30: School of Yin Yang and Diplomacy The chapter explains how various philosophers and their teachings were later grouped into specific schools of thought, notably during the Han Dynasty. It highlights that prior to this categorization, thinkers like Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu were independently pursuing their philosophies. Their works were later classified under the school of Taoism. Among the schools of thought, only Confucianism and Mohism had some form of organization during the Warring States period, with the Mohists described as revolutionary thinkers akin to 'hippies' of ancient China.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Agriculture, Syncretism, and Small Talk The chapter explores the concept of impartial care, promoting the idea that one should care for everyone equally, not just family and friends. It touches on themes of pacifism paired with practicality, particularly in the context of self-defense. The narrative describes how, in a time of regular warfare, pacifists also developed expertise in defensive tactics and siege warfare to protect themselves and assist smaller states under threat.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Legalism and Its Rise This chapter discusses the rise of Legalism and its principles, highlighting its systematic approach to governance and policy. Legalism prioritizes strict adherence to laws and was instrumental in shaping the administrative structures that repelled invasions. Despite its effectiveness, Legalism oddly harbors an aversion to music, juxtaposing the harmony often sought in philosophical traditions with a rigid enforcement of rules. Additionally, the chapter touches upon logicians, who focus on logic and semantics. Like modern-day online debaters, they engage in rigorous arguments, exemplified by the white horse discourse, which distinguishes between specific and general terms to challenge assumptions and linguistic conventions.
• 04:30 - 05:00: The Fall of Legalism and Rise of Confucianism The chapter explores the transition from Legalism to Confucianism in a historical context. It highlights how different philosophical schools of thought, despite being distinct, are not ideologically pure. They often exchange criticism and borrow concepts from each other to evolve. For instance, the school of yin-yang and Taoism, and the incorporation of concepts like the Five Elements by Taoism, illustrate the blending and adaptation of ideas across these schools.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Conclusion: Victory of Confucianism The chapter 'Conclusion: Victory of Confucianism' delves into the integration of different philosophical schools into Confucianism over time. Specifically, it highlights how the school of diplomacy, known for policies of alliances, influenced Confucianism. This school's notable figures, such as Su Qin and Zhang Yi, were both students of the Master of Ghost Valley. Su Qin is noted for advocating the vertical alliance, encouraging smaller states to unite.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Speculative Alternate Histories The chapter discusses different strategies and alliances in historical conflicts, particularly those involving smaller states opposing larger ones. One strategy, supported by a character named Changi, involves breaking alliances of smaller states to allow larger states to conquer them individually. The chapter introduces the concept of the 'horizontal alliance,' a counter-strategy aimed at empowering smaller states against more powerful foes. Additionally, there's a mention of an agrarian-focused school of thought that advocates for a societal structure where rulers engage directly in farming alongside citizens, reflecting an idealized version of ancient agrarian society.

The Philosophical Struggle That Defined China - Hundred Schools of Thought Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Confucianism as many would know is the predominant philosophy of China from interpersonal relationships through customs rituals and ethics all aspects of Chinese civilization is steeped in Confucian philosophy but 2,000 years ago before Confucianism reign supreme it had to fight in the ideological prong against hundreds of other philosophies and schools of thoughts in the intellectual jungle of pre Imperial China in a struggle called the
• 00:30 - 01:00 contention of a hundred schools of thought this is the story of the great war of ideas and how Confucianism managed to feed all the others to rise to the top despite having all the odds stacked against them during the spring and autumn and the warring States era China had a flourishing free marketplace of ideas school of thoughts such as Confucianism Taoism legalism mohism and
• 01:00 - 01:30 many others were adjusting for influence in the courts of various rulers of the land influencing the masses is one thing but winning over rulers is the jackpot man they are collectively called the hundred schools of thought even though there are plenty more than a hundred schools but hey hundred is a pretty nice sounding drum number a school of thought is not necessarily if the loss of II like Confucianism or Taoism it could
• 01:30 - 02:00 also be based on technical skills like the school of military and school of diplomacy it could even be a combination of the two like mo Isom which combines their philosophy of impartial care and defensive siege warfare but out of the hundreds of schools out there there are only ten which the historian banku considered to be major schools Confucianism is a philosophy and governing system that advocates for treating others with kindness and respect it encourages rulers to treat
• 02:00 - 02:30 their subjects with humane 'less and in return the subject will show deference to their ruler this school of thought was started by Confucius but he did not really invent the whole idea he was really just espousing for the adoption of the traditional values of the ancient lords and kings of the Zhou Dynasty and earlier so he's really just a traditionalist who wants to bring back the values of the nobles and extend it to the masses Taoism is a philosophy and religion and
• 02:30 - 03:00 sometimes also a political theory it encourages living in accordance with the Tao Tao or the way is a concept that's akin to the natural law of the universe instead of creating rigid rules like Confucianism Taoism and practice the principle of way or action through the liberabit in action because sometimes things can work much better with less interference and less bureaucracy this
• 03:00 - 03:30 school of thought like most others was only categorised later in the Han Dynasty prior to this how as philosophers like Lao Tzu Chuang Tzu and theater were just doing their own things but they were grouped into the school of Taoism because their work covered similar topics the only school of thoughts that had some form of organization during the warning space was Confucianism and mohism the Mogis were the real kick-ass hippies of ancient China they think
• 03:30 - 04:00 Lovings one own family and friends is not enough so they preach impartial care you should care for everyone equally even strangers they are pacifists but they are not stupid when you are living in an era of war just because you don't attack others it doesn't mean that the others won't attack you so they also became experts in defensive siege warfare and their agents often rush to help other smaller states to defend
• 04:00 - 04:30 against invasions pretty cool huh but for some reason they hate music will though logicians as the name suggests studies logic semantics and related subjects they are the equivalent of the well actual a guy on Twitter one of their most famous argument is the white horse discourse they argue that a why horse is not the same as a horse because a horse does not necessarily have the
• 04:30 - 05:00 property of being white as a white horse does smart asses and you wonder why their school got mostly wiped out despite their differences these various schools are not ideological purists various schools feed off each other by exchanging criticism and even grow by borrowing concepts from each other his point the school of yin yang and Taoism the concept of the Five Element and yin-yang was developed by the former but now ism incorporated some of the ideas
• 05:00 - 05:30 into their own philosophy and absorb the school later in history the school of diplomacy is also known as the school of vertical and horizontal alliances the name comes from the policies of two very famous warring States diplomats suchen and Zhang Yi both of them were students of grey coats or master of the ghost valley su Qing was a proponent of the vertical alliance he lobbied for various smaller states to form an alliance so
• 05:30 - 06:00 that they can oppose larger states like chin Changi on the other hand is the proponent of the horizontal alliance he lobbied to break the alliance of smaller states so that they can be picked off individually by a larger one these guys make great negotiators the school of agriculture these folks just want everyone to go back to farming and build society based on the idealized ancient agrarian structure where the rulers work side by side in the field with the
• 06:00 - 06:30 people and wasn't very popular the school of syncretism just copied other people's work they just pick whatever is useful from various other schools and combine them into their own work lü buwei who commissioned a tons of scholars to write a book in his name was a practitioner of this is the school of small talk sometimes mistranslated as novelists are not really writers of fiction but they might as well be because their job was to go up and
• 06:30 - 07:00 collect information from the people of the streets and alley whether it be news rumours history legend their job is to report it to the ABS period they are like the private journalists of Lourdes and they are prone to embellishing their subjects ancient fake news the historian banku said that there were nine stars and ten schools he considered the school of small talk to be one of the ten major schools but he did not think of them highly enough to consider it its own
• 07:00 - 07:30 style among the ten schools legalism look like the one that had the greatest chance to succeed it was tough and had a winning backer jin-sook one is the first emperor of China this school of thought is a great fit for his personal ideology it emphasizes on the Plutonian use of rules and laws to achieve certain goals in his case it was unifying China once he did that in 221 BCE he made legalism the official state
• 07:30 - 08:00 philosophy of his empire and tried to wipe out all the other schools by burning their books including Confucianism obviously he did not succeed completely as many classics were reconstructed later in history but many books from lesser schools did not survive the devastation it was remembered as one of the greatest literary tragedy in Chinese history for a time during the Qin Dynasty it looked as if legalism was poised to become the
• 08:00 - 08:30 predominant philosophy of China but things changed quickly because the draconian rules of legalism led to the rise of multiple popular revolts combined with the weak leadership of Qin su Kwong successor the Qin Dynasty lasted for only a short 15 years period when the Han Dynasty took over in two hundred or two BCE Confucianism gained a little crown as it became a competing philosophy in the Han Court along with legalism and Huang law style Taoism but
• 08:30 - 09:00 it was nowhere as influential as the two others and the first emperor of the Han Dynasty hated the Confucian so much he would pee in their hats so they had to work hard to gain influence eventually during the reign of the six emperor of the Han Dynasty the great Han moody they succeeded a Confucian scholars essay impressed the Emperor so much he made Confucianism the state philosophy and banned all other
• 09:00 - 09:30 schools of thought from then on Confucianism gained primacy and became a theme predominant philosophy of the Chinese civilization effectively it won the great war of ideas against all the other schools merely by being tenacious enough to keep on surviving until it could get lucky which means that it's victory is mostly a fluke have other schools of thought won this great war of idea China today could have been a completely different society could you
• 09:30 - 10:00 imagine a logician based hyper rationalist China or a hippy Maoist technocracy China so what do you think which school of thought do you think would make a great setting for a story about an alternate history China comment below by the way if you are entertained by this video give it a thumbs up and if you like history from Asia and other parts of the world then you should subscribe because we release at least one video a week until next time stay cool my bros
• 10:00 - 10:30 [Music]