Discussion topic: the formation and cultural characteristics of the "scholar" class in the Warring States period.

Formation: At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to compete for hegemony, the princes selected some talented people within their own clans to serve as warriors, and some taxis with higher status served as nobles' retainers to assist the nobles in managing political affairs. In this way, the rise of taxis, which were originally positioned at the bottom of the nobility, injected vitality into the turbulent times. Some ambitious monarchs gradually realized the importance of talents and strategies, scrambling to recruit wise men and organize decision-making think tanks. As a result, scholars gathered to form the influence of a group, which was no longer based on family and surname, nor attached to a powerful family, but broke the boundaries between family and origin, and formed a group with great influence according to virtue and talent.

Style: "Scholars in the Warring States period can be divided into four categories: one is bachelor, such as experts in Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Ming, France and agriculture. They wrote books and put forward various political opinions, which made great contributions to culture. One is a military strategist, the so-called military strategist, who is good at political theory and hunts for wealth by arguing with each other. One kind is alchemist or warlock, which can be divided into two types. The first category is experts in astronomy, calendar, geography, medicine, agriculture, technology and other disciplines, and they have also made great contributions to culture. The first category is tourists who cheat food and clothing, such as yin and yang teachers, diviners, dreamers, immortals, housebuilders, etc. The next category is diners, with the largest number and the most miscellaneous products, including crow thieves, Ren Xia assassins, traitors, gamblers and butchers, street hooligans, etc. " [9] This paper comprehensively summarizes the occupational division and social attributes of scholars in the Warring States period, which provides a theoretical basis for us to understand the composition of this new intellectual class. No matter what kind, they all have a common feature, that is, they all have certain knowledge and specific expertise. They use their knowledge and expertise to apply for jobs and play a role in ideological, cultural and social reform.