What are the main works of pre-Qin philosophers' prose?

Prose of pre-Qin philosophers came into being during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The development of pre-Qin philosophers' prose can be divided into three stages. From the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the beginning of the Warring States Period, the representative works are Laozi of Taoism, Analects of Confucius of Confucianism and Mozi of Mohism. Laozi highly summarized the Taoist viewpoint in the form of short philosophical poems. The Analects of Confucius is mostly short quotations, and many aphorisms represent the essence of Confucianism.

Mozi gradually has a basic mode of discussion and writing, but it is relatively simple and has no words. In the mid-Warring States period, Mencius and Zhuangzi, as representatives, began to get rid of the citation system. Mencius used dialogue to reason, while Zhuangzi used more fables and metaphors besides dialogue. Both books are vivid, eloquent, ups and downs, with a strong literary color.

Xunzi and Han Feizi in the late Warring States Period are his representative works. They are not only a collection of essays, but also an organized and systematic academic work. The topic is concentrated, the logic is strict, the reasoning is thorough, and the language is rich, which represents the highest achievement of reasoning prose in pre-Qin period.

Although these essays are different in complexity, style and style, their development process is from simple to complex, from combing to intensive, from complex to systematic and rigorous, and their literary color is getting stronger and stronger. Among them, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Han Feizi and Xunzi have the most literary value.