between the seventh and third centuries B.C. was one of great social and political transformation and change.
We are not sure just when the disintegration of the feudal system began. Already as early as the seventh century there were aristocrats who through the wars of the time, or for other reasons, lost their lands and titles, and thus fell to the level of the common people. There were also common people who through skill or favoritism became high officials of the state. This illustrates the real significance of the disintegration of the Chou dynasty. It was not only the disintegration of the political power of a particular royal house, but— and this is more important—of an entire social system.
With this disintegration, the former official representatives of the various branches of learning became scattered among the common people. They had either been actual nobles themselves, or had been specialists holding hereditary offices in the service of the aristocratic ruling families. This is the significance of a quotation made by Liu Hsin from Confucius in the course of the same "Treatise partially quoted from above: "When ceremonies become lost [at the court], it is necessary to search for them in the countryside."
Thus when these former nobles or officials scattered throughout the country, they maintained a livelihood by carrying on, in a private capacity, their specialized abilities or skills. Those of them who expressed their ideas to other private individuals became professional teachers, and thus there arose the separation between the teacher and the officer.
The word "school" in this chapter is a translation of the Chinese word 058
THE ORIGIN OF THE SCHOOLS
chia, which at the same time is used to denote a family or home. Hence it suggests something personal or private. There could be no chia of thought before there were persons who taught their own ideas in a private capacity.
Likewise there were different kinds of chia because these teachers were specialists in varying branches of learning and of the arts. Thus there were some who were specialists in the teaching of the classics and the practicing of ceremonies and music. These were known as the ju or literati. There were also specialists in the art of war. These were the hsieh or knights. There were specialists in the art of speaking, who were known as the pien—chi: or debaters. There were specialists in magic, divination, astrology, and numerology, who were known as the fang-shih, or practitioners of occult arts. There were also the practical politicians who could act as private advisers to ihe feudal rulers, and who were known as fa-shu chih shih or "men of methods." And finally, there were some men who possessed learning and talent, but who were so embittered by the political disorders of their lime that they retired from human .society into the world of nature. These were known as the yin—che or hermits or recluses.
According to my theory, it is from these six different kinds of people that the six schools of thought as listed by Ssu—ma T an originated. Paraphrasing Liu Hsin, therefore, I would say: Members of the Ju school had their origin in the literati.
Members of the Mohist school had their origin in the knights.
Members of the Taoist school had their origin in the hermits.
Members of the School of Names had their origin in the debaters.
Members of the Yin-Yang school had their origin in the practitioners of occult arts.
Members of the Legalist school had their origin in the "men of methods."
The explanations of these statements will be found in the chapters that follow.
060
THE ORIGIN OF THE SCHOOLS
L
CHAPTER 4
UCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
CONFUCIUS is the latinized name of the person who has been known in China as K'ung Tzu or Master K'ung.* His family name was K'ung and his personal name Ch'iu. He was born in 551 B.C. in the state of Lu, in the southern part of the present Shantung province in eastern China. His
We are not sure just when the disintegration of the feudal system began. Already as early as the seventh century there were aristocrats who through the wars of the time, or for other reasons, lost their lands and titles, and thus fell to the level of the common people. There were also common people who through skill or favoritism became high officials of the state. This illustrates the real significance of the disintegration of the Chou dynasty. It was not only the disintegration of the political power of a particular royal house, but— and this is more important—of an entire social system.
With this disintegration, the former official representatives of the various branches of learning became scattered among the common people. They had either been actual nobles themselves, or had been specialists holding hereditary offices in the service of the aristocratic ruling families. This is the significance of a quotation made by Liu Hsin from Confucius in the course of the same "Treatise partially quoted from above: "When ceremonies become lost [at the court], it is necessary to search for them in the countryside."
Thus when these former nobles or officials scattered throughout the country, they maintained a livelihood by carrying on, in a private capacity, their specialized abilities or skills. Those of them who expressed their ideas to other private individuals became professional teachers, and thus there arose the separation between the teacher and the officer.
The word "school" in this chapter is a translation of the Chinese word 058
THE ORIGIN OF THE SCHOOLS
chia, which at the same time is used to denote a family or home. Hence it suggests something personal or private. There could be no chia of thought before there were persons who taught their own ideas in a private capacity.
Likewise there were different kinds of chia because these teachers were specialists in varying branches of learning and of the arts. Thus there were some who were specialists in the teaching of the classics and the practicing of ceremonies and music. These were known as the ju or literati. There were also specialists in the art of war. These were the hsieh or knights. There were specialists in the art of speaking, who were known as the pien—chi: or debaters. There were specialists in magic, divination, astrology, and numerology, who were known as the fang-shih, or practitioners of occult arts. There were also the practical politicians who could act as private advisers to ihe feudal rulers, and who were known as fa-shu chih shih or "men of methods." And finally, there were some men who possessed learning and talent, but who were so embittered by the political disorders of their lime that they retired from human .society into the world of nature. These were known as the yin—che or hermits or recluses.
According to my theory, it is from these six different kinds of people that the six schools of thought as listed by Ssu—ma T an originated. Paraphrasing Liu Hsin, therefore, I would say: Members of the Ju school had their origin in the literati.
Members of the Mohist school had their origin in the knights.
Members of the Taoist school had their origin in the hermits.
Members of the School of Names had their origin in the debaters.
Members of the Yin-Yang school had their origin in the practitioners of occult arts.
Members of the Legalist school had their origin in the "men of methods."
The explanations of these statements will be found in the chapters that follow.
060
THE ORIGIN OF THE SCHOOLS
L
CHAPTER 4
UCIUS, THE FIRST TEACHER
CONFUCIUS is the latinized name of the person who has been known in China as K'ung Tzu or Master K'ung.* His family name was K'ung and his personal name Ch'iu. He was born in 551 B.C. in the state of Lu, in the southern part of the present Shantung province in eastern China. His
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