Qin and Han Dynasty Thought

This chapter explores intellectual developments in the Han and the Qin dynasties. During this time, the empire was unified and the Confucian, Daoist, Legalist, and Yin-Yang schools became dominant. The chapter focuses on Han thinker Dong Zhongshu. He combined yin-yang five-phase ( wuxing 五行) cosmos-centered thought with human-centered politics and rulership ( wangdao 王道) to establish a cosmological blueprint in which nature and society formed an organic whole. Chinese medicine, as presented in the Huangdi Neijing , adopted this cosmology that integrated the human and the cosmic. Chinese medicine today still stresses holism and organic vitality. In sum, the Qin-Han period established a cultural and intellectual foundation for later generations in China.