Editing Ancient philosophy (section)

====Hundred Schools of Thought====
{{main article|Hundred Schools of Thought}}
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophers and schools that flourished from the 6th century to 221 BCE,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112694/Chinese-philosophy#ref171469 "Chinese philosophy"], Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 4/6/2014</ref> 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 [[lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]]s 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 [[Forms of government|government]], [[war]], and [[diplomacy]]. This period ended with the rise of the [[Qin dynasty]] and the subsequent [[Burning of books and burying of scholars|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 (Confucianism)|ren]]'' and ''[[Yi (Confucianism)|yi]]''.<ref>{{citation|url=http://arts.hkbu.edu.hk/~pclo/e5.pdf |author=Lo, Ping-cheung |title=Confucian Ethic of Death with Dignity and Its Contemporary Relevance |journal=The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics. Society of Christian Ethics (U.s.) |year=1999 |volume=19 |pages=313–333 |publisher=Society of Christian Ethics |doi=10.5840/asce19991916 |pmid=11913447 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716110845/http://arts.hkbu.edu.hk/~pclo/e5.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref>
* [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|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 &ndash; one's sensory experiences, such as sight and hearing &ndash; 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 (Chinese philosophy)|Five Elements]]; [[Zou Yan]] is considered the founder of this school.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607826/Zou-Yan|title=Zou Yan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=1 March 2011}}</ref>
* Agrarianism, or the [[School of Agrarianism]], which advocated peasant [[utopian]] communalism and [[egalitarianism]].<ref name="wp">{{cite book|last= Deutsch |first=Eliot | author2  = Ronald Bontekoei|year=1999 | page= 183|title=A companion to world philosophies|publisher=Wiley Blackwell}}</ref> 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."<ref name="wp" />
* The [[School of Names|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 [[dialectician]]s. 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.