The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

Periods Traditions / philosophies Main ideas Political environment
Ancient China
- Spring and
Autumn period
(722 – 481 B.C.)
- Warring States
period (481 – 221
B.C.)
Confucianism – represented by
Confucius (551 – 479 B.C.), Mencius
(371 – 289 B.C.), and Xunzi (fl. 298
– 238 B.C.), attained supremacy in
the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220),
and was officially embraced during
Sui (581 - 617) and Tang (618 - 907)
Dynasties; and continued as an
ideological underpinnings of all
feudal dynasties until the demise of
the Qing Dynasty
Daoism – founded by Laozi (6 th or 4 th
cent. B.C.), and developed by
Zhuangzi (bet. 399 – 295 B.C.), and
adopted as a major philosophy during
the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -
8)
Confucianism presents the idea
of individual self-cultivation as
the basis of forming a
harmonious society.
Daoism rejects the Confucian
ideas that social order and
human relations are regulated by
the ethical value of benevolence
(ren), righteousness (yi), and
propriety (li). In contrast
Daoism believes in regulating
human actions in the Way, or
Dao of the universe or nature.
The development of feudal state; the increasingly decline
of the Zhou power with the incessant attacks of the
Turkish and Hun tribes in the West and the conflict in the
South;
local military/feudal lords battling for political hegemony;
The rise of the Kingdom of Qin.
Early Imperial
China
- Eastern Han
Dynasty (25 – 220)
- The Three
Kingdoms (220 –
280)
- Sixteen Kingdoms
(304 - 439), and
Southern (420 - 589)
Chinese Buddhism – imported from
India (67), started to spread during
3 rd century A.D., to develop as an
independent doctrine until the 6 th
century A.D., and flourished during
Sui (581 – 617) and Tang (618 –
907) Dynasties
Buddhism as a religion for the
masses, believing in the intrinsic
goodness of human nature,
Chinese Buddhism follows the
teachings of the Mahayana
School – universal salvation.
Buddhism believes human
relations continue in the Pure
Land, which is an extension of
Daoist search for immortal life.
The Chinese Meditation School
highlights the importance of
Expansion of the Empire to Southeast Asia, Northern
Korea and Mongolia, and westward to the Tarim Basin
during Eastern Han Dynasty; the decline of Eastern Han
power due to land privatizations, bureaucratic corruption
and feuds among consort clans, eunuchs and Confucian
scholar-officials; the Yellow Turban Rebellion; incessant
fighting during the Three Kingdoms period (220 – 280
A.D.);
Political and social upheaval of Sixteen Kingdoms and
Southern and Northern Dynasties;
20