Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M8831

Great Unity

Great Unity
StructureHigh supportLogic
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28

CORE DEFINITION

Great Unity is a founding concept in China since the Western Zhou Dynasty that reveres the unification of various systems, such as calendar, decrees, state, ethnicity, ideology, rituals, weights and measures, and writing. The Gongyang Zhuan mentioned this concept. Mencius in the Warring States period said, 'The world will be unified.' In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu supported political centralization and, based on the 'Great Unity' in the Spring and Autumn Annals, suggested Emperor Wu of Han to dismiss a hundred schools and revere Confucianism alone. The concept of 'Great Unity' is not exclusive to Confucianism.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Great Unity is a founding concept in China since the Western Zhou Dynasty that reveres the unification of various systems, such as calendar, decrees, state, ethnicity, ideology, rituals, weights and measures, and writing. The Gongyang Zhuan mentioned this concept. Mencius in the Warring States period said, 'The world will be unified.' In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu supported political centralization and, based on the 'Great Unity' in the Spring and Autumn Annals, suggested Emperor Wu of Han to dismiss a hundred schools and revere Confucianism alone. The concept of 'Great Unity' is not exclusive to Confucianism.

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Anchor fast decisions

The Gongyang school of the Spring and Autumn Annals advocated 'Great Unity', emphasizing that all feudal lords under heaven are unified under the Zhou king, later extended to high centralization of politics, territory, culture, and legal systems. Its mechanism is to eliminate division through central authority, and to reduce governance and transaction costs by standardizing writing, cart tracks, and weights and measures. The scale effect allows public resources such as the Great Wall and canals to be constructed under a single regime.

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%80%E7%BB%9FZH · Explicit
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