In 141 BC, Emperor Wu of Han gave Confucianism the monopoly over the entire empire, endorsing it as the state philosophy while supressing the other schools of thought, influencing nearly two millenia of how people in the Sinocentric sphere sees the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Schools_of_Thought
However, a few centuries before, China was still divided into many warring states. Confucianism faced many rival philosophical schools in gaining influence, and when the Qin Dynasty unified China for the first time, Confucianism was nearly driven to extinction. To be fair, other schools also suffered the same persecution under the Qin, bar Legalism, which the Qin endorsed.
Yet Confucianism made a strong comeback in the subsequent Han Dynasty. (Off-topic: Is it me or am I seeing a similarity to Christianity in the Roman Empire?)
So had Emperor Wu chosen differently, or if his reign were to be butterflied away, which other major schools of thought would have the best chance of influencing centuries of Chinese civilization?
PS Confucianism seemed to be a "cool thing" to the Enlightenment philosophers in Europe when Confucian texts were first translated in the 17th century by missionaries in China, would said alternate philosophy have the same effect?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Schools_of_Thought
However, a few centuries before, China was still divided into many warring states. Confucianism faced many rival philosophical schools in gaining influence, and when the Qin Dynasty unified China for the first time, Confucianism was nearly driven to extinction. To be fair, other schools also suffered the same persecution under the Qin, bar Legalism, which the Qin endorsed.
Yet Confucianism made a strong comeback in the subsequent Han Dynasty. (Off-topic: Is it me or am I seeing a similarity to Christianity in the Roman Empire?)
So had Emperor Wu chosen differently, or if his reign were to be butterflied away, which other major schools of thought would have the best chance of influencing centuries of Chinese civilization?
PS Confucianism seemed to be a "cool thing" to the Enlightenment philosophers in Europe when Confucian texts were first translated in the 17th century by missionaries in China, would said alternate philosophy have the same effect?
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