The Hundred Schools: Confucius, Laozi, the Legalists
Philosophy in the Warring States, Confucius and the Analects, Mencius and Xunzi on human nature, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Daoism, Mozi and impartial care, the Legalists Shang Yang and Han Feizi, Sunzi's Art of War, and how these schools shaped Chinese government and ethics.
Ideas from an age of war
The traditional dates for Confucius (551-479 BCE) are generally accepted; Laozi's historical existence is uncertain, and the Daodejing attributed to him was probably compiled over time. Under the Han, Confucianism became the state orthodoxy and the basis of official education; Buddhism arrived from India in the Han and joined Confucianism and Daoism as the "three teachings".
Confucius, Analects (trans. D.C. Lau, 1979; Edward Slingerland, 2003); Daodejing (trans. D.C. Lau, 1963); A.C. Graham, Disputers of the Tao (1989); Benjamin Schwartz, The World of Thought in Ancient China (1985).