The Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (47)______ an unprecedented(史无前例的) era of cultural prosperity. The atmosphere of reform and new ideas was (48)______ to the struggle for survival among warring regional lords who competed in building strong and loyal armies and in increasing economic production to ensure a broader base for tax collection. To (49)______ these economic, military, and cultural developments, the regional lords needed ever-increasing numbers of skilled, literate officials and teachers, the recruitment of whom was based on merit. Also during this time, commerce was stimulated through the introduction of coinage and technological improvements. Iron came into general use, possible not only the (50)______ of weapons of war but also the manufacture of farm tools. Public works on a grand (51)______ —such as flood control, irrigation (灌溉) projects, and c digging—were executed. Many different philosophies developed during the late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States periods that the era is often (52)______ as mat of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Many of the thinkers were intellectuals who, besides teaching their disciples, were employed as (53)______ to one or another of the various state rulers on the methods of government, war, and diplomacy. The body of thought that had the most enduring effect on (54)______ Chinese life was that of the School of Literati (儒家), often called the Confucian school in the West. Confucius, also called Kong Zi, or Kong, looked to the early days of Zhou rule for an ideal social and political order. He believed that the only way such a system could be made to work properly was for each person to act (55)______ prescribed relationships. "Let the ruler be a ruler and the subject a subject," he said, but he added that to rule properly a king must be virtuous (品德高尚的). To Confucius, the functions of government and social stratification were facts of life to be sustained by (56)______ values. Word Bank A) scale B) subsequent C) exert D) witnessed E) ethical F) forging G) regulation H) warning I) known J) reduce K) advisers L) attributed M) according to N) lead to O) effect