ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 identifies the major characteristics of pre-modern Chinese civilization; introduces readers to the major contending “Hundred Schools” of philosophy---Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, Buddhism, Yin-Yang---and the eventual synthesis of many of their characteristics into Confucianism. It considers the reasons behind the failure of this system to adapt to the challenges of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
