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Chinese Literature and Philosophy
Jixia xuepai 稷下學派 "Scholars of the Jixia Academy"


The Jixia Academy 稷下 was a kind of state academy in the state of Qi 齊 during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE). A lot of scholars studying and teaching there were famous among the so-called one hundred schools of thought of that time. Its representatives came from many different philosophical traditions, from Confucians, legalists and Daoists to adherents of the Yin-Yang school, sophists or dialecticians, as well as military strategists and so-called miscellaneous thinkers. One of the most famous philosophers teaching at the Jixia Academy was Xunzi 荀子. The school was run for about 140 years and was only closed when the armies of Qin 秦 conquered Qi. The heyday of the Academy was during the reign of King Xuan 齊宣王 (r. 342-324), when a lot of teachers, like Zou Yan 鄒衍, Chunyu Kun 淳于髡, Tian Pian 田騈, Jiezi 接子, Shen Dao 慎到 or Huan Yuan 環淵 were bestowed the title of senior grand master (shang dafu 上大夫) because they had contributed with their discourses to the political successes of the king. During that time several hundred scholars studied at the Jixia Academy. The teachers compiled a lot of books, of which some have survived until today, like the Guanzi 管子, Huangdi sijing 黃帝四經, or the military treatise Simafa 司馬法.

Source: Zhao Lan 趙嵐 (1996). "Jixia xuepai 稷下學派", in: Zhuzi baijia da cidian 諸子百家大辭典, ed. by Feng Kezheng 馮克正, Fu Qingsheng 傅慶升, p. 962. Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe.
Chinese literature according to the four-category system

February 23, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald · Mail