1. Founding of Religious Traditions 宗教文化的創立（公元前6世紀）

Confucius, Buddha, and Mahavira (the prophet of Jainism) all lived in the 6th century, though their works were compiled later (in the case of Buddha, much later). Important books of the Old Testament were written or assembled at roughly the same time. Greek culture was climbing toward its classical peak, thanks to natural philosophers (Thales, Parmenides), early political leaders (Solon), engineers (Chersiphron), and poets (Sappho, Pindar). No century is more significant for both Western and Eastern intellectual traditions.

孔子、佛祖和摩訶毗羅（耆那教的先知）都生活在公元前6世紀，盡管他們的工作在后來才慢慢被編纂完成（佛祖的著作在之后的很長時間才編纂完畢）。圣經舊約的重要篇章也大概在這個時期撰寫或者編纂。希臘文化得利于自然哲學家（泰利斯、帕梅尼德斯），早期政治領袖（梭侖），工程學家（伽爾瑟夫農）、和詩人（莎孚、品達），也正在走向其古典文化的頂峰。毫無疑問，在東西方文化傳統的發展史上，這是一個獨一無二的世紀。