The I Ching dates back to the Zhou dynasty, which was the longest of all Chinese dynasties (1046-256 BC). In its first part, the Western Zhou, central authority lay with the Zhou kings. Their authority gradually weakened, and in the subsequent Eastern Zhou they had only a ceremonial role. The Eastern Zhou is divided into the Spring and Autumn Period (771-481 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The various states fought each other for power; coalitions were forged and broken. Eventually, the easternmost of these states gained hegemony and unified China under the Qin dynasty.
The Warring States Period marked a long period of conflict and war. Despite, or perhaps because of, all the turmoil, philosophy flourished as never before: the Hundred Schools of Thought, 諸子百家. It was the time of Confucius, Mencius, Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Mo Zi, the Legalists, the Naturalists; the list of renowned philosophers is long.
In the introduction to Zhuang Zi, the Complete Writings, Kristofer Schipper nuances the dominant image of the Period of Warring States.
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The emergence of the aforementioned philosophical schools is therefore consistently attributed to the desperate search by the great minds of that era for a way out of the chaos and a return to a society of order and moral values.However, the historiography that propagated this negative view dates from a later era, namely that of the second empire, the Han dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD). Not only did this dynasty have an interest in portraying the periods that preceded it in as dark a light as possible, but Confucianism had also become the dominant ideology of the empire at that time. For the Confucians, the period they called the 'Warring States' was a time when the classical teachings of Confucius had fallen into decline. Hence, they had nothing good to say about it, neither about the culture nor about society, and least of all about Taoism, which was on the rise at the time. After all, it is precisely the Confucian moralising about moral and social order that our Zhuang Zi constantly mocks!
Suppose that the traditional Confucian view of the period in which Zhuang Zi lived is incorrect, or at least highly biased and incomplete. How can we obtain a more accurate picture? This is not easy, because all surviving Chinese historiography is eminently Confucian — something that modern researchers all too often forget. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, however, great progress has been made in Chinese archaeology, giving us a completely different picture of the period in which Zhuang Zi must have lived.At that time, the 'states' of China were no longer the feudally governed countries of yesteryear, but had developed into city-states that were primarily commercial and industrial centres. The Warring States were therefore often nothing more than rival cities. The situation in China at that time was thus in many ways comparable to that of Hellas at the time. The artefacts include not only the precious ritual bronzes that traditionally played an important role in classical Chinese sacrificial religion, but also all kinds of lacquerware objects with amusing and cheerful depictions. These objects have been found in various places throughout China, indicating intensive trade. The two centuries before the beginning of the empire may have been times of conflict, but they were also times of great economic and cultural prosperity and social emancipation, in which virtually independent cities developed into centres of art and science. This evolution also brought about a great integration of the different parts of what was then China during this period, which ultimately made political unification possible in 221 BC.
Zhuang Zi, de Volledige Geschriften - Kristofer Schipper
In Welcome To The New Warring States, Chinese author Hui Huang draws an analogy between the Warring States Period and the political situation in 2026.
This is not merely a moment of disruption. It marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic. The world is moving from a system of mediated stability toward one of open rivalry. To understand this moment, China’s own history offers a useful analogy. In the Spring and Autumn period (770 to 476 B.C.E.), warfare was ritualized, legitimacy symbolically upheld by the Zhou king. But as the old order weakened, the Warring States period (approximately 475 to 221 B.C.E.) emerged. It was a time of classic anarchy marked by intense competition, innovation, and systemic transformation. Legalism, meritocracy, military standardization and bureaucratic statecraft all took shape in this crucible. The end of ritual was also the beginning of modern governance.
Hui Huang in Noēma
Read the full article recently published in Noema here.
To be continued …