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Introduction In China, during the Spring and Autumn period (c. 770-481 BCE) and the Warring States period (c. 480-221 BCE) different schools of thought flourished: Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and many more. So many schools of thought were there, that it is now referred to as the period of the “Hundred Schools of Thought.” Eventually, the Warring States period ended when the Qin Dynasty unified China, and only 15 years later gave way to the Han dynasty. The Han Dynasty proceeded to rule China for 400 years, coinciding with (or perhaps causing) the first true Golden Age of Chinese History. China was unified, and made many advances in technology, science, art and poetry. The Han unified China under a Confucian ideology, in which the state is “like the father”, and the citizenry “like his children” — each owing loyalty to the other, and each having certain responsibilities for the other. This worked well, for in China there is one thing that a dynasty must have in order to rule — the Mandate of Heaven. Under Confucianism, the classics were elevated, scholars were trained in Confucius’ teachings to advise the throne, and Confucian values — ritual virtue, filial piety, the responsibility of good governance — were the moral language of the day. Eventually, these Confucian values were internalized, so that rather than being imposed by the Han, they were demanded by the people. Scholars began to criticize corrupt emperors through the interpretation of bad omens. Failed policies were taken as a sign that the Han were not living up to their duty as the rulers of a unified China. Rival warlords claimed that they, not the Han dynasty, embodied the true virtues of Confucianism. The state’s ideology finally turned against it, as each famine, plague, and rebellion became another portent that the dynasty had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Each rebellion begat more rebellions, until unrest and distrust were sown throughout China. Eventually, warlords managed to rise up and overthr