father
Laozi's surname was Li Ming'er (李名耳), and the character Boyang (伯阳), a native of Ku County, Chu (present-day Luyidong, Henan). Lao Tzu was a thinker of the late Spring and Autumn period in China, the founder of the Taoist school, and the first philosopher in the world to have dialectical thought. "Lao Tzu Hua Hu Jing Preface No. 1": "I thought that the saint had an old appearance, so he was called Lao Tzu." "At the end of the 5th century BC, civil unrest broke out in the Zhou royal family. Lao Tzu saw that the imperial court was deteriorating day by day, so he resigned his official post, rode a donkey, went west out of the Han Valley, and lived a secluded life. At the request of Guan Ling Yin Xizhi, he left behind five thousand texts, namely Lao Tzu, also known as the Tao Te Ching.
Confucius
Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC), courtesy name Qiu, was a native of the state of Lu (present-day southeastern Qufu, Shandong) in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Confucius was a great thinker, statesman, and educator of the late Spring and Autumn period of China, and the founder of the Confucian school. At the heart of Confucius's thought was "benevolence", which he first proposed as a philosophical category. Confucius had "three thousand disciples", and those who were proficient in the six arts (ritual, music, archery, imperial, calligraphy, and counting) were collectively called "seventy-two sages". In his later years, Confucius sorted out and compiled the ancient cultural classics "Book of Poetry", "Book of Shang", "Spring and Autumn", "Zhou Yi", "Book of Rites" and "Book of Music" in luguo, except for the "Book of Music" that has been lost, the rest of the "Five Classics" have been passed down to this day. Confucius died of illness at the age of 73, and his main thoughts, words and deeds were recorded by his disciples and compiled into the Analects.
Mozi
Mozi (c. 468 BC – 376 BC), courtesy name Zhai, was a Song dynasty thinker and statesman of the Warring States period. Mozi was known as the "Cloth Man", and he wrote books and established the Mojia School, which became the only xianxue that could compete with Confucianism at that time. Mozi's main idea and fundamental spirit is to benefit people from self-suffering, advocating "both love" and "non-attack" and other propositions, and his words and deeds and thoughts are recorded by his disciples in the book "Mozi".
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi (c. 369 BC – 286 BC), known as Zhou, a native of song (present-day Shangqiu, Henan), known as "Nanhua Zhenren", was a famous thinker, writer, and representative figure of the Taoist school during the Warring States period. Zhuangzi and Lao Tzu are called "Lao Zhuang", and his ideological works are completely preserved in the book "Zhuangzi". It is not only the most famous philosophical work in the pre-Qin period, but also an excellent literary work.
Mencius
Mencius (c. 372 BC – 289 BC), courtesy name Ke (字子舆), was a native of Zou (present-day Zoucheng, Shandong) during the Warring States period, a famous thinker of the Warring States period, a representative of the Confucian school, known as "Yasheng". Its central idea is "benevolence and righteousness", advocating benevolent government, emphasizing that "the people are noble and the king are light", and putting forward the "theory of sexual goodness" on the issue of human nature. Mencius and his disciples co-authored Mencius, which recorded Mencius's thoughts and political speeches.
Xunzi
Xun Zi (313 BC – 238 BC), courtesy name Qing, was a Member of the Warring States of Zhao. Xun Zi was a Confucian collector at the end of the Warring States period, and also a pre-Qin materialist collector, who put forward the simple materialism of "heaven has a constant" and the idea that those who "control the mandate of heaven and use it" will triumph over heaven. Xun Zi and his disciples wrote the book "Xun Zi", a total of 10 volumes and 32 articles, of which "Persuasion" and "Heavenly Theory" are the most representative.
Han Feizi
Han Fei (c. 280 BC – 233 BC), philosopher of the late Warring States period, was a master of pre-Qin legalist thought. Han Feizi was born into a noble family in Korea (mainly in Henan Province). Politically, Han Feizi put forward policies such as heavy rewards, heavy punishments, heavy agriculture, and heavy wars, advocating centralized power, and because the suggestion that The King of Han change the law was not useful, he wrote a book in anger and wrote a book of more than 100,000 words, of which the representative articles were "Five Beetles", "Saying Difficulty", "Xianxue", "Lonely Anger", and "Fixing the Law". After Han Fei's ideological works spread to the Qin state, the King of Qin greatly appreciated it. But his former classmate Li Si and others framed him, and Han Fei was forced to commit suicide.
Dong Zhongshu
Dong Zhongshu (179 BC - 104 BC), a native of Guangchuan (present-day Jingxian County, Hebei), was a famous philosopher of the Western Han Dynasty, and enjoyed the reputation of "the head of Confucianism" at that time. Dong Zhongshu's proposal to "depose a hundred families and respect Confucianism alone" was adopted by Emperor Wu of Han and was inherited by feudal rulers for more than two thousand years. Dong Zhongshu's thought is centered on Confucian patriarchal thought, mixed with the five elements of yin and yang, and runs through the theocracy, monarchy, patriarchy, and husband power, forming a feudal theological system. His works include Spring and Autumn Dew and DongZi Anthology.
Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi (1130-1200), also known as Ziyang,was a famous philosopher and educator of the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhu Xi inherited the doctrine of the "Second Journey" (程颢, 程颐), collected the great achievements of science, and developed it into a complete system of objective idealism. Zhu Xi's central idea was the "Theory of Rational Qi", in which he believed that "if Heavenly Reason exists, people want to perish, and if people want to win, Heavenly Reason will perish", and put forward the theory of "Existing Heavenly Reason and Destroying Human Desire". After Zhu Xi's death, his ideas were enshrined as official philosophies and had a major impact at the end of feudal society. Zhu Xi wrote a lot of works in his lifetime, the most important and influential of which are the "Notes on the Collection of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books", "Zhou Yi Benyi", "Yixue Enlightenment", "Commentary on the General Book" and so on.
Wang Fuzhi
Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), also known as Mr. Funayama, was a thinker during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Wang Fuzhi has made outstanding contributions in philosophy, inheriting and carrying forward the fine tradition of ancient Chinese simple materialism, drawing on the achievements of the emerging contemporary "quality measurement", being realistic and innovative, and developing materialism to the height allowed by the conditions of the times on the basis of the achievements of predecessors. Wang Fuzhi particularly criticized the argument that "heavenly reason exists and destroys human desires", holding that only when human desires are reasonably satisfied, can they be reasonable. Wang Fu wrote many works in his lifetime, and his main philosophical works are: "Zhou Yi Wai Biography", "Zhou Yi Nei Biography", "Poetry Guangchuan", "Lao Tzu Biography" and so on.
Hundreds of sons
From the pre-Qin to the early Han Dynasty, there is a clear distinction between the sons and the hundred families, that is, "the sons refer to the representative figures of each sect" and "the hundred schools refer to the various schools". The Book of Han lists 10 Confucians, Taoists, Yin and Yang Scholars, Legalists, Famous Scholars, MoJia, Zonghengjia, Miscellaneous Families, Peasants, and Novelists. It's not all. When it comes to the main schools, it should be the three schools of Confucianism, Taoism, and Law, which not only have a clear system of teaching, rich writings, and a complete theoretical system, but also have a great influence on the thinking of future generations; secondly, the Mo family and the famous masters, although they have a small influence on future generations, but their status in the society at that time is quite important, and they also have their own theories and writings; as for the Yin and Yang family, although they are not complete and rigorous in the philosophical system, their influence on future generations cannot be ignored.
Three religions, nine streams, ten families
Three Religions: Han Confucianism preached Xia Shangzhong, Shang Shangjing, and Zhou Shangwen as the Three Religions (The Three Religions of the White Tiger Tong). After Buddhism was transmitted to China at the time of the Two Han Dynasties, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were called the three religions.
Nine Streams: Refers to the doctrine of the Nine Schools of Thought in the pre-Qin period. That is, Confucianism, Taoism, Dharma, Mingjia, Mojia, Yin and Yangjia, Zonghengjia, Miscellaneous Family, and Peasant Family.
Ten: Nine streams (i.e. nine) plus novelists.