Abstract
The so-called “Chinese philosophy” is very complex in terms of its content. It is a philosophy with a hundred different schools of thought including Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, Neo Confucianism of Song and Ming Dynasties (960 A.D.—1644 A.D.); it is a philosophy of many different classics, with subsets of classics and history and local literature, philosophical thoughts from thinkers of different nationalities in different time and space, as well as the ideological content passed down by word of mouth.
This article is the script of a keynote speech delivered at the 19th International Conference on Chinese philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on July 22, 2015.
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Notes
- 1.
Du (2002).
- 2.
Cheng (2006).
- 3.
Tang (2007).
- 4.
Tang (2014).
- 5.
Translator’s note: Pan Ming is the inscription carved on the vessels by Tang.
- 6.
Translator’s note: Kang Gao, an article in the Book of History, is an order of King Cheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty to appoint Kang Shu to govern the people in the old areas of the Shang Dynasty.
- 7.
Translator’s note: Wang Fuzhi, a naive materialist thinker, was one of the “Four Enlightenment Thinkers in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties”.
- 8.
Translator’s note: Yao and Shun were two wise monarchs and the leaders of the ancient tribal alliance in ancient Chinese legends.
- 9.
Translator’s note: The five cardinal virtues refer to benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, which are the five most basic characters and virtues that a human, as an independent individual in the society, should possess for the sake of his own development and social progress.
- 10.
Translator’s note: The four cardinal virtues refer to sense of propriety, justice, honesty and honor, which are the moral standards and codes of conduct of a society.
- 11.
Translator’s note: The eight virtues refer to filial piety, fraternity, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame.
- 12.
Huang (2013).
- 13.
Tang (1991).
- 14.
Guo (2010).
- 15.
Shun (2009).
- 16.
Cheng (2006).
- 17.
Tang (2009).
- 18.
Translator’s note: Classics is the main body of ancient Chinese learning. The study of Confucian classics contains rich and profound thoughts and preserves a large number of precious historical materials, which is the core component of Confucianism.
- 19.
Translator’s note: This term refers both to the theories of the diverse group of scholars from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Western Han Dynasty, as well as the study of these theories. During those years, scholars engaged in free and in-depth reflection on the collapse of the social order and societal values and came up with diverse theoretical propositions. All of these theories are known as “the study of A Hundred Schools of Thought.” The study of A Hundred School of Thought had far-reaching influence on later generations, who researched and elucidated theories of the schools and developed them further. This further development of A Hundred Schools of Thought is also covered by the study of A Hundred School of Thought.
- 20.
Translator’s note: Neo-Confucianism, also known as Taoism, was a major school of philosophy produced in the Song Dynasty. Neo-Confucianism is the most exquisite and complete theoretical system in ancient China, and its influence is profound and huge.
- 21.
Translator’s note: Textual research, also known as simple learning, mainly deals with the collation, collation, annotation and compilation of ancient books.
- 22.
Shen (2007).
- 23.
He (1990).
- 24.
Huang (2011).
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Guo, Q. (2022). The Spirit and Characteristics of Chinese Philosophy. In: The Characteristics of Chinese Cultural Spirit. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4847-2_4
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