Three teachings

      When it comes to Sinology, one cannot avoid discussing the "Three Teachings," and when speaking of the "Three Teachings," it naturally leads to the "Nine Schools" or "Nine Streams," collectively known as the "Three Teachings and Nine Streams." The initial origin of the term "Three Teachings and Nine Streams" was very positive. The earliest record of the "Three Teachings" originates from a conversation between Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms period and the scholar Gan Ze, mentioning Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. The earliest mention of the nine schools or streams can be found in the "Han Shu: Catalogue of Arts and Literature," where 189 schools of thought are included, but the most important were nine: Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism, the School of Names, Yin-Yang School, the School of Diplomacy, Eclecticism, and Agrarianism. This was actually a general reference to China's major religions and various academic schools after the Han Dynasty.       In the minds of ordinary people, "Three Teachings and Nine Streams" has actually become a euphemism for different social roles of varying status. Influenced by vernacular novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties or current TV dramas, when people speak of the three teachings and nine streams today,…