query: instance_of mencius 
supports: Zisi (c. 481402 BCE), born Kong Ji (), was a Chinese philosopher and the grandson of Confucius. The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 771 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. The period's name derives from the "Spring and Autumn Annals", a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BC, which tradition associates with Confucius. The Analects (Old Chinese:*run (r)a), also known as the Analects of Confucius, is a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius' followers. It is believed to have been written during the Warring States period (475 BC221 BC), and it achieved its final form during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC220 AD). By the early Han dynasty the "Analects" was considered merely a "commentary" on the Five Classics, but the status of the "Analects" grew to be one of the central texts of Confucianism by the end of that dynasty.  Mencius or Mengzi (372  289 BC; alt. 385  303/302 BC) was a Chinese philosopher who is the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. Sima Qian (; c. 145 or 13586 BC), formerly romanized Ssu-ma Chien, was a Chinese historian of the Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his "Records of the Grand Historian", a "Jizhuanti"-style (history presented in a series of biographies) general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to his time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, a work that had much influence for centuries afterwards on history-writing not only in China, but in Korea, Japan and Vietnam as well. Although he worked as the Court Astrologer (Chinese: ; "Tàish Lìng"), later generations refer to him as the Grand Historian (Chinese: ; Tàish Gng or tai-shih-kung) for his monumental work; a work which in later generations would often only be somewhat tacitly or glancingly acknowledged as an achievement only made possible by his acceptance and endurance of punitive actions against him, including imprisonment, castration, and subjection to servility. The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the "Book of Documents", "Bamboo Annals" and "Records of the Grand Historian". According to the traditional chronology based on calculations made approximately 2,000 years ago by Liu Xin, the Shang ruled from 1766 to 1122 BC, but according to the chronology based upon the "current text" of "Bamboo Annals", they ruled from 1556 to 1046 BC. The XiaShangZhou Chronology Project dated them from c. 1600 to 1046 BC. Confucius (September 28, 551 BC  479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. The Qin dynasty was the first dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. Named for its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Gansu and Shaanxi, the dynasty was formed after the conquest of six other states by the Qin state, and its founding emperor named Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the Legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the fourth century BC, during the Warring States period. In the mid and late third century BC, the Qin accomplished a series of swift conquests, first ending the powerless Zhou dynasty, and eventually conquering the other six of the Seven Warring States to gain control over the whole of China. It is also the shortest dynasty in Chinese history, lasting only 15 years with two emperors. In politics, a figurehead is a person who holds "de jure" (in name or by law) an important title or office (often supremely powerful), yet "de facto" (in reality) executes little actual power. The metaphor derives from the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship. Commonly cited figureheads include Queen Elizabeth II, who is Queen of sixteen Commonwealth realms and head of the Commonwealth, but has no power over the nations in which she is not head of state and does not exercise power in her own realms on her own initiative. Other figureheads are the Emperor of Japan, the King of Sweden, or presidents in majority of parliamentary republics, such as the President of India, President of Israel, President of Bangladesh, President of Greece, President of Germany, President of Pakistan (starting in 2010), and President of China (without CPC General Secretary and Chairman of CMC posts). Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy  a form of divination  in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. "Scapulimancy" is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for the divination; "plastromancy" if turtle plastrons were used. Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese.
  The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, in the late Shang dynasty.
  Bronze inscriptions became plentiful during the following Zhou dynasty.
  The latter part of the Zhou period saw a flowering of literature, including classical works such as the "Analects", the "Mencius", and the "Zuozhuan".
  These works served as models for Literary Chinese (or Classical Chinese), which remained the written standard until the early twentieth century, thus preserving the vocabulary and grammar of late Old Chinese. The Mencius ( Chinese :  ; Old Chinese : * mra - s ts ; pinyin : mèngz ) , is a collection of anecdotes and conversations of the Confucian thinker and philosopher Mencius on topics in moral and political philosophy . Mencius was a disciple of one of the students of Zisi , a grandson of Confucius , and the Mencius records his travels and audiences with the various rulers of the Warring States period , his students , and his other contemporaries . A number of linguistic and textual clues suggest that the text was not written by Mencius himself but by his disciples , probably during the late 4th century BC. The Mencius comprises 7 chapters , each divided into two halves , with alternating short sayings and extensive dialogues on specific philosophical arguments . Its fundamental positions , such as Mencius ' famous argument in chapter 6A that human nature is inherently good , are usually presented as conversations between Mencius and contemporaneous thinkers , while arguments on specific issues usually appear in records of his advice and counsel to various rulers . The Mencius was one of the most important texts of early Confucianism , and represents a notable advance over the Analects of Confucius ( Lunyu  ) in terms of sophistication of argument . Notwithstanding its early importance to Confucianism , the Mencius was not canonized as one of the Chinese Classics until over 1000 years later during the Song dynasty . Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese, is the language of the classic literature from the end of the Spring and Autumn period through to the end of the Han Dynasty, a written form of Old Chinese. Classical Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese that evolved from the classical language, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. Literary Chinese was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century, and also, during various periods, in Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Among Chinese speakers, Literary Chinese has been largely replaced by written vernacular Chinese, a style of writing that is similar to modern spoken Mandarin Chinese, while speakers of non-Chinese languages have largely abandoned Literary Chinese in favor of local vernaculars. Chinese sovereign is the ruler of a particular period in ancient China. Several titles and naming schemes have been used throughout history. Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local language varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The differences are similar to those within the Romance languages, with variation particularly strong in the more rugged southeast. These varieties, often called "dialects", have been classified into seven to ten groups, the largest being Mandarin (e.g. Beijing dialect), Wu (e.g. Shanghainese), Min (e.g. Taiwanese Hokkien), and Yue (e.g. Cantonese). The Zhou dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang dynasty and preceded the Qin dynasty. Although the Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty, surnamed Ji, lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as the Western Zhou. The Warring States period was an era in ancient Chinese history following the Spring and Autumn period and concluding with the Qin wars of conquest that saw the annexation of all other contender states, which ultimately led to the Qin state's victory in 221 BC as the first unified Chinese empire known as the Qin dynasty. Although different scholars point toward different dates ranging from 481 BC to 403 BC as the true beginning of the Warring States, Sima Qian's choice of 475 BC is generally the most often cited and popularly accepted one. The Warring States era also overlaps with the second half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, though the Chinese sovereign, known as the king of Zhou, ruled merely as a figurehead and served as a backdrop against the machinations of the warring states.
candidates: achievement book century chinese chinese dynasty chronicle collection conquest day divination dynasty editor emperor empire era final grammar historiography india initiative language language family law ma military millennium part period person point politician politics river romance saw september series ship six spring standard ten term text time title valley variation work
answer: book