Introducing Chinese Philosophy

This book presents an introductory survey of the major themes, thinkers and texts, philosophical genres and profound insights of the Chinese philosophical tradition. Its coverage ranges from the foundational history of Chinese thought in the 6th-5th centuries BCE up to the present day.

The first two chapters provide an overview of the broad history of Chinese philosophy, identifying its major texts and thinkers, and offer examples of the different literary styles in which philosophy was written throughout the ages. The remaining chapters explore major and ever-pervasive themes of Chinese philosophical reflection, from a holistic portrayal of the natural order and the relational nature of human beings to debates about ethics and personhood that span the entire development of the heritage.

The major questions addressed by the volume are:

- What are the most important texts, and who are the most influential figures of the history of Chinese philosophy, and what were their historical and social circumstances?

- How did Chinese thinkers work in such a variety of literary styles: from dramatized conversation, storytelling and poetry to commentary and analysis to the many different genres of Buddhist literature to modern historical and academic writing?

- What are the varieties of cosmic or natural holism found in the various schools of Chinese philosophy--“Proto-Daoist,” Buddhist, Confucian and modern-- and how are they articulated and defended?

- How have Chinese philosophers throughout history presented the nature of the person, in Confucian, Buddhist, Confucian and contemporary perspectives? Why is the notion of the relational person so persistently central to Chinese thought? How was the personhood of women conceptualized throughout the centuries, particularly by Chinese women philosophers?

- How did the various notions of personhood shape Chinese philosophers’ views of ethics and the ideal social and political order? How did Confucian, Mohist, Legalist, Daoist, and Buddhist perspectives on these issues change through the centuries up to the present?

Each chapter includes sections for Further Readings, and a Glossary at the back of the book briefly describes the major time periods, figures, themes and concepts in Chinese philosophy.

Key Features



Presents an overview of important thinkers, ideas and debates from the entire history of Chinese philosophy up to the present day



Acquaints readers with the many varieties of literary style and frameworks of formal argumentation that have existed in the Chinese tradition



Identifies the major themes of the Chinese tradition while showing how various schools and thinkers dealt with them differently



Explores the importance of relational personhood and the various ways it is formulated in Chinese philosophy



Includes coverage of how women philosophers present their own personhood, in Chinese history and up to today



Examines the many different ethical and political implications of Chinese theories of personhood throughout the culture’s and state’s history



Gives the reader a sense of the complexity, nuances, and insights of modern Chinese thinkers on politics and society