• Was the period in which Legalism school of thought was created
• Confucius, creator of Confucianism, was born in 551BCE
• Group formed around Mozi, a thinker who lived between Confucius and Mencius
  • Argued Confucians were wasteful when honoring the dead
  • Argued they owed people bare necessities instead
• Group formed around Daoism posed challenge to Confucianism and Legalism
• Political knowledge was both precious and dangerous in the period
  • Han Feizi was poisoned when visiting Qin because of his knowledge
• Legalists wiped out all rivals to Qin state in 221 BCE
  • Triumph resulted in ensured survival of texts from most schools of thought