We speak of the period of the hundred schools relative to the period corresponding to the decline of the western Zhou dynasty, in China, and the advent of a new era with the eastern Zhou dynasty; we pass, in plain language and understandable to all, from a clear, certain situation to an institutional political chaos.
It is called the period of the hundred schools because, as always happens, when chaos reigns, the mind elaborates theories of life for survival.
In this period, philosophical theories are being developed that will be the background to Chinese history for centuries to come. The philosophies mentioned are Confucianism, Taoism, legalism and moism, which will also mature later.
The beginning of this period is called the “Spring and Autumn Period” which goes from 771 BC. to 454 BC It takes its name from the chronicles of that time, the Annals of Spring and Autumn, traditionally attributed to Confucius.
It all begins while in China a certain Ping rules, or thinks of ruling.
PING
In 771 BC a new dynasty begins in China, known as the “Eastern Zhou”; this occurs following the implosion of the western Zhou dynasty which, starting with King Ping (we believe in collaboration or together with Pong, inventor of a well-known board game), the King, to govern, increasingly needed military support and financial system of local princes who, obviously, ended up becoming more and more important and indispensable, blackmailing the power of the King.
So according to the trend, the five most important local princes ended up calling themselves King and little by little the central power lost the important and the trace, transforming it into a mere symbol of tradition but, in fact, without any power.
To give the coup de grace to the old dynasty, as we have already mentioned previously, were the invasions of the Quarrong barbarians, rather angry people and little inclined to traditional diplomatic rites, in fact they entered the kingdom by arrogance and conquered it, sacking the capital Hao.
King Ping was forced to flee, finding shelter with the local Princes who fought him a little bit one and a little bit the other, using that sporting method, created by the King himself, called Ping-Pong.
From this disintegration, seven main states emerged, in perennial struggle with each other: Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Qin, Qi, Chu which, all together, look more like a tongue twister than a list of states, think of poor emperor Ping that in order not to irritate anyone he always had to name them all together… not a small effort, however, perhaps the only one he made.
SMILE WITH HISTORY 