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Beginning in the 8 th century ., local strongmen, originally appointed as representatives of the Zhou kings, began to arrogate to themselves the powers and titles of the royal court. The Zhou state waited too long to try to counter this and found its power slipping away as new “hegemons” arose in various parts of the empire. Small states proliferated and fought among themselves, ushering in a centuries-long age of warfare and chronic social and economic instability. Known as the Warring States period, the crises of this age led many Chinese to question the basic foundations of their society and to search for answers to the problems facing them. A new social strata of educated, professional administrators grew up at the many “royal” courts, known as the shi, and from the ranks of this class emerged many of the thinkers who shaped the great philosophical systems of Confucianism, Daoism, and the Hundred Schools.
