Coming to the Chou dynasty, we have abundant historical records, and the Chou is also the golden age of Chines philosophy. During its ealy centuries, a large number of small states, most of them grouped around the valley of the Yellow River in North China, were linked together ghrough cooon ties of allegiance to the Chou royal house in a feudal system roughly analogous to that of medieval Europe. As time wore on, however, this feudal system gradually disintegrated, resulting in the eclipse of the Chou royal power, the steady incresae of bitter warfare between the now independent states, and other violent political, social, and economic upheavals. It was men's efforts to find answers to the resulting pressing problems that confronted them, that caused the appearance of the first Chinese organized philosophical thought, whick constitutes the cultural glory of the age. Confucius was the earliest of these philosophers, and was followed by a host of others belonging to widey differing schools of thought. Politically, the same centuries following Confucius are appropriately known as the Period of the Warring States.
继商之后的周朝留下了丰富的史料。周朝也是中国哲学史上的黄金时代。在它的最初几个世纪里，黄河中下游谷地的一大批小国都臣服周王室，这种君臣关系大体上和欧洲中世纪情况相仿。随着时间的迁移，这种封建体制逐渐瓦解，出现一批独立的国家。它们彼此之间进行战争，再加上政治、社会、经济的动乱，严重削弱了周朝的统治。面临种种紧迫的社会政治问题，人们要寻求解答，于是中国出现了第一次有组织的哲学思想运动，它构成中国古代的灿烂文化。孔子是这批哲学家中间最早的一个。继他之后，兴起了一批哲学家，他们各抱不同的思想主张。在政治史上，孔子以后的几个世纪通称为战国时期。
网友评论