There were four schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period: Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism and Law. Famous thinkers include Confucius, Laozi, Mozi and grandson. The Spring and Autumn Period is usually used to refer to the historical stage of the first half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China, which is called the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, the historical period from 770 BC to 476 BC.

Confucianism advocates the "golden mean", advocates "rule by virtue" and "benevolent government", and attaches importance to moral and ethical education and human cultivation. Taoism has dialectical thoughts, takes "Tao" as the core, thinks that the avenue is inaction, advocates the nature of Tao, and puts forward strategies such as giving birth to Tao and combining rigidity with softness. Mohism advocates equality and friendship between people, opposes wars of aggression, advocates economy, attaches importance to inheriting the cultural wealth of predecessors and grasps the laws of nature. Legalists advocate political reform and innovation, advocate "rule of law" instead of "rule by courtesy", encourage "land to the tiller, fight without fighting", and strive to "make the soldiers rich and powerful" in order to strengthen the monarchy.

Confucius was a thinker, politician, educator and founder of Confucianism in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Confucius pioneered the style of private lectures and advocated benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. There are 3,000 disciples, including 72 sages. He led some disciples to travel around the world for fourteen years, and revised the six classics (poetry, calligraphy, ceremony, music, Yi, Spring and Autumn) in his later years. After his death, his disciples and re-disciples recorded the words, deeds and thoughts of Confucius and his disciples and compiled The Analects. This book is regarded as a Confucian classic.

Laozi, born at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, was an ancient thinker, philosopher, writer and historian in China, the founder and main representative of Taoist school, and was also called "Laozi and Zhuangzi" with Zhuangzi. Later, he was revered as the ancestor by Taoism and called "the old gentleman on the throne". In the Tang Dynasty, he was regarded as the ancestor of Li. Laozi's masterpiece Tao Te Ching (also known as Laozi) is one of the most widely circulated works in the world.

Mozi was a Song Dynasty man in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period. Mozi is the founder of Mohism. He put forward the viewpoints of universal love, mutual non-aggression, Shang Xian, Shang Tong, Tian Zhi, Ming Gui, non-happiness, frugality and so on, and established the geometry with universal love as the core, frugality and Shang Xian as the fulcrum.

Sun Wu, the grandson, was born in Le 'an, Qi at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. His masterpiece, The Art of War, contains thirteen articles, which are highly praised by later military strategists. It is known as the "sacred book of military science" and ranks first among the seven military classics. The Art of War written by Sun Tzu occupies an extremely important position in the history of military affairs, military art and philosophical thoughts in China and even in the world.