Chinese Philosophy and Its Thinkers: From Ancient Times to the Present Day
Across a set of three volumes spanning more than three thousand years, this is a survey of thinkers central to the development of philosophical thought in China. From the origins of Chinese thought in the Zhou dynasty to the arrival of Modern thought with the New Text Confucianism, the three volumes, totalling 1,440 pages and bringing together a team of experts, cover: Volume I Chinese Ancient and Early Imperial ThoughtVolume II Chinese Imperial Thought since the Introduction of BuddhismVolume III Chinese Thought from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century Alongside the giants of Chinese philosophy, Confucius, Han Fei and Mencius, the selection includes independent philosophers often neglected from traditional surveys, figures such as Shang Yang, Yang Xiong, Wang Chong, Lu Xiangshan and Li Dazhao. A focus on the linguistic and rhetoric form of Chinese philosophical thought runs through each volume, together with discussion of seismic political, social and economic events: the rise of imperial examination system, the emergence of Maoism and post-1978 politics. Thinkers are connected to broader themes and traditions - Mengzi and the role of virtue in ethics; ritual and community in Xunzi; Chinese epistemology in the interwar period - and interconnections between Chinese and major East Asian traditions, Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, are explored. This is a history of Chinese philosophy that handles recently excavated bamboo texts, ancient Chinese aesthetics, women philosophers in premodern China, Chinese Christian thinkers and Chinese Muslim philosophy. Close attention is paid to the mutual exchange of ideas between China and Europe, providing a much-needed two-way perspective that captures the monumental contribution of Chinese philosophers and builds a global history of thought.