During the Spring and Autumn Period, the philosopher Laozi proposed an ideal state of affairs. He believed that neighboring states could see each other and hear the sounds of each other's roosters and dogs. Yet, he envisioned a society where people would eat their own rich food, wear their own clothes, and live according to their own customs, so content and self-sufficient that they would grow old and die without ever having contact or interaction with people from the other state.

Later, Sima Qian, the great historian, expressed his view that this idea of 'growing old and dying without interacting' was impractical and unworkable in reality.