The late Zhou period of, also known as the Age of a Hundred Schools of thought, was a turbulent era in Chinese history. Although these schools all contended against each other, they had the same basic goal. To unify China. The three most influential schools of thought that existed were Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. Although ultimately it was legalist principles and methods that ended the Period of the Warring states, through the eyes of the Confucian thinkers, Qin Shihuandi's legalist policies may have been a harsh and overtly utilitarian way of unifying China. .

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             Confucianism is a school of thought that developed from one mans want for a more "moral way " of ruling. Kong Qiu, as he was named before history posthumously named him Kong Fuzi which was later "Latinized into Confucius, was born into an "aristocratic but impoverished family ". His experience with rituals of his native state of Lu in Northwestern China, led him to embark upon a "14 year period of wandering with his students ". Confucius traveled to various small courts attempted to convince their leaders to adopt his philosophies of life and government. He hoped his ideas would return China to a "state of harmony and justice ". Confucius later returned to his home and remained teaching, believing himself a failure, until his death in 479. In actuality he was far from a failure. His ideas spread throughout the kingdom and played a profound role in shaping Chinese civilization. .

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             We must remember that the School of a Hundred thoughts took place during the Period of the Warring states. This was a particularly turbulent period of history where philosophers were trying to come up with anything they could to bring peace and confident rule to China. Many thinkers, such as Confucius, looked to the past to provide examples of for improvement. The past, especially the Zhou dynasty, was largely mythicized and believed to be a "Golden age of harmony and prosperity ".