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Politics, Humanities and Rural Homeland 119

3 The Formative Process

In Part I, I have mentioned the societal integration of politics, humanities, and
rural homeland that happened after the Western Han Dynasty. What is worth
noting is that historic revolution took place twice, one at the beginning of such
integration and the other at the end of it, each being followed by a period of
transition. The two transitional periods were the Warring States Period
(475 B.C.E.–221 B.C.E.) and the 20th century; the Spring and Autumn (770 B.C.E.–
476 B.C.E.) was the formation period. By looking back on that period and the
Warring States Period, we may better understand the position and mission of
Confucianism today.
In terms of viability, the Warring States Period could almost be called “the era
of the roving scholars”. They might not serve a particular official for a long time,
and from time to time they themselves might be appointed as officials. They did not
settle in a place for long. Most of them were either at the lowest social ladder of
nobility or ordinary people, with little wealth or land. Despite all this, they still had
chances to climb up, or might become a high official. On the whole, they were short
of wealth and had no inheritance of wealth. Very often, they had neither fixed
official title, nor political power.
In the late Spring and Autumn Period, the School of Confucianism came
into being. The foundation of its establishment was learning. Without learning,
there would be no Confucianism. Confucius aspired to enter scholarship at the
age of 15; enrolled his own students at 30. At 50, he travelled widely and had
been to many states. He settled down and concentrated on studying and
teaching in his later years. All state rulers in the Warring States Period were keen
to hire erudite people, particularly thosewiththe abilitytomakethe statestrong
and wealthy.
According to the chapter “Biographies of Mencius and Xun Kuang” in
Records of the Grand Historian (I史记 · 孟子荀卿列传J), Mencius, who was a
disciple of Zi Si (子思 483 B.C.E.–402 B.C.E.), offered his advice to King Xuan of
the Qi State (齐宣王 ca. 350 B.C.E.–ca. 301 B.C.E.), but was rejected. Mencius then
went to the Liang State, where King Hui (梁惠王 400 B.C.E.–319 B.C.E.) did not
take his advice either, saying he was a pedantic man with too high an ambition.
At that time, Shang Yang (商鞅 ca. 390 B.C.E.–338 B.C.E.) helped the Qin State
become wealthy and strong; Wu Qi (吴起 ?–381 B.C.E.) helped Chu and Wei
to defeat their enemies, and Sun Zi (孙子 ca. 545 B.C.E.–470 B.C.E.) and Tian Ji
(田忌 dates unknown) helped King Wei (齐威王 378 B.C.E.–320 B.C.E.) and King
Xuan of Qi to become the strongest state in the east. All the states were busy
forming alliances with each other, taking those who were militarily skilled as