It was a new era, following on from the eclecticism of the Spring and Autumn period and the fragmentation of Daoist teachings, and just as in the realm of politics, a unified approach was being sought for in the realm of ideas.
近代思想大儒牟宗三曾說漢代是「天才的時代」，中研院院士許倬雲在一篇〈漢代的治績〉短文中指出，「漢代人才之盛，歷史上不多見。