Pre-Qin historical prose set the foundation for Chinese historical literature and exerted great influence on historians and writers of classical literature. This article will focus on the basic information of Warring States Period prose.

What is the background of the Warring States period?

Warring States was an important period in Chinese history. Great changes occurred during those times : the Zhou Dynasty, the Liyue System in West Zhou and the period of Spring and Autumn declined and broke down. At this time, representatives from various schools of thought began to write books that criticized contemporary times and expressed their opinions on politics.

What is the overview of literature in this period?

Warring States period was a time of great social changes as China was separated into seven states that were at war with each other. Many schools of thought contended with each other and their works further promoted the development of rational prose. For this period, there is Analects, an expounding of the ideas of humaneness of the Confucian school. It recorded

the speeches and activities of Kong Qin and his disciples. Mencius recorded the speeches of Meng Ke and his language as brisk and convincing. Other important works include Mozi, a representative of the Mohist school’s advocacy of equality ; Zhuangzi, a key work of the Taoist school that advanced on Zhuang Zhou’s claim of governing by doing nothing against nature; Hanfeizi, a legalist school’s assertion of act according to circumstances; and Xunzi, an outline of Xun Kuang’s doctrine, with clear prose in arguments and extensive in vocabulary. The prose in this period exerted great influence in terms of both content and form on the development of prose in later ages.

How did the prose develop throughout the period?

There are three periods in the development of the philosophers' prose. The first period is the early Warring States period. Major works of this period include the Analects, the Laozi and the Mozi.

The second period is the middle Warring States period. In this period, the style of dialogue was still in use, but the works were no longer records of the master's words and acts by his disciples like the Analects, but collective works of school; and the contents were no longer restricted to a single person's words and acts, but extended to dialogues. Major works of this period include Mengzi and Zhuangzi, etc. They are characterized by rich language, clear reasoning and the frequent use of fables and metaphors.

What are contributions of the Hundred Schools of Thought?

The proponents of the Hundred Schools of Thought in the Warring States Period and Spring and Autumn periods made important contributions to Chinese prose style. The writings of Mo Zi, Mencius, and Zhuang Zi contain well-reasoned, carefully developed discourses and show a considerable improvement in organization and style.

Mo Zi is known for extensively and effectively using methodological reasoning in his

polemic prose. Mencius contributed elegant diction and, along with Zhuang Zi, is known for his extensive use of comparisons, anecdotes, and allegories. By the third century B.C., these writers had developed a simple, concise prose noted for its economy of words, which served as a model of literary form for over 2,000 years.

What are the representative works in this period?

From the late Spring and Autumn to the Warring States period, the essays were biased toward the discourse of the philosophers prose.  Most literature works  were inextricably linked to the active, representing different classes and interest ways of thinking. They presented various views on the formation of competing ideological and cultural fields.

Confucian "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius", "Xunzi," Taoism's "I", "Zhuangzi" Legalist "Han Fei Zi", Mohist's "Mozi", as well as military commander of the

"The Art of War." Early's "Analects" is a student-teacher Tanhua Lu, lively and free; "Art of War" is a military commander monographs, well constructed, well argued. The medium term "Mencius", "Mozi", using the dialogue form, are School collective works, multi-band split on the form. "Han Fei Zi" is a collection of essays by an individual scholar with the majority of chapters being center clear, coherent, logical, demonstration full and persuasive. Zhuzi essays focus on literary styles, widespread use of metaphors,  each with its own personality style, to create a wide variety of style. 

Spring and Autumn period histories are very prosperous. During the Warring States Period  the country has seen the chronological body "Zuo Zhuan", country body of the "national language",  the body of "war policy" and so on. "Zuo Zhuan" to "Spring and Autumn" recorded by major as the key link, specific narrative of the Spring and Autumn Period describing  250 years of historical events, historical authenticity, the distinct trends of thought and language of imagery. "Mandarin" emphasis on words in mind, have a certain artistic aspect. "Warring States" described the history of the Warring States Period with clear narrative coherence and concentration.