Zhou, 1122–211 BC

Mathematics was already fairly advanced in the Zhou dynasty in 1100 BC as imbedded in Yiching, The Book of Changes. This book can be found in most American bookstores. Besides Yiching, other books of the Zhou period were impressive, including the Book of Poems, the Book of Learning, the Book of Li (Rules of Social Conduct), and Spring and Autumn (History of the Late Zhou Period). There were many great thinkers during this period. Among them Confucius (551–479 BC) was the most celebrated. He is considered the originator of Chinese humanism. He established moral codes to guide human conduct, and a set of proper relations among different members of a society, between emperor and subjects, parents and children, older and younger brothers, and husband and wife. We will have more to say about Confucianism in Chapter 2 dealing with Chinese culture and in Chapter 3 dealing with the Chinese economy.

Besides Confucius, there were many other prominent philosophers. There was Lao Tse who was the founder of Daoism, advocating the return to nature and "doing nothing in following the course of nature." Lao Tse suggested that if there are no laws, there will be no laws to break and there will be no criminals. There was Han Fei-tze who taught almost the opposite by emphasizing the importance of the legal system. There was Guan Zhong who understood much economics including the incentives of different forms of government taxation. There were a hundred schools of thought contending, like a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred birds singing. It was a golden period of China's cultural development. The writings of that period are available today for us to read and enjoy.