The Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy

Introduction

Brook Ziporyn and Stephen C. Walker

Act I

1 Sociopolitical Context: Problems and Opportunities

Yuri Pines

2 Heaven, Spirits, and Fate

Michael Puett

3 Divination, Prediction, and Human Agency

Lisa Raphals

4 Military Affairs and Justified Violence

Andrew Seth Meyer

5 Basic Moral Values and Virtues

Manyul Im

6 The Development of Law in Early Chinese Political Philosophy

Eirik Lang Harris

7 The Constitution of the Human Person

Douglas L. Berger

8 Agency

Franklin Perkins

9 Names and Speech in Warring States Thought

Chris Fraser

10 Knowledge and Argumentation

Yiu-ming Fung

11 Dao and What Is Above Forms

Massimiliano Lacertosa

Act II

12 Dao and Intellectual Diversity: Three Ways of Finding Our Way Forward

Stephen C. Walker

13 Early Chinese Philosophy of History

Esther Sunkyung Klein

14 Chinese Identity, Confucian Ethnocentrism, and the Idea of the Civilization-State

Shao-yun Yang

15 Early Literary Thought

Stephen Owen

16 Music in Early Chinese Philosophy

Meilin Chinn

17 Gender Discourse in the Confucian Classics and Han Confucianism

Ann A. Pang-White

18 Filial Piety (Xiao): A Crucial but Contested Virtue

Keith N. Knapp

19 Yinyang Thinking: The Power of Connectivity

Robin R. Wang

20 Heaven and Fate in Han Period Thought

Alexus McLeod

21 Things and What Is Beyond All Things: Clarifying the Relationship Between You and Wu

in Wei-Jin Xuanxue

Hao Hong

22 Agency and Morality in Xuanxue Thought

Paul J. D’Ambrosio and Henry Allen

Act III

23 Chinese Reactions to and Adaptations of Buddhist Monasticism

Mario Poceski

24 Relations Among the Three Teachings

Friederike Assandri

25 Expedient Means and Conventional Truth

Hans-Rudolf Kanto

26 Language and Beyond Language in Chinese Buddhism

Chien-hsing Ho

27 On Artistic Creations

Francisca Cho

28 Emptiness in Chinese Buddhism

Nicholaos Jones

29 Buddha-nature

Sangyop Lee

30 Consciousness

Zhihua Yao

31 Theory and Practice in Huayan Buddhism

Imre Hamar

32 Desire, Human Nature, and Relational Virtuosity: Chan Buddhist Insights

Peter D. Hershock

Act IV

33 Philosophy of Literature in Middle Period China (800-1400)

Michael A. Fuller

34 Middle Period Arguments on the Compatibility of the Three Teachings: The Positions of Chao Jiong, Qisong, and Li Chunfu

Douglas Skonicki

35 Things and What Is Beyond All Things

Galia Patt-Shamir

36 Cosmology and Physical Science

Don J. Wyatt

37 Constitution of the Human Person

Stephen C. Angle

38  Agency and Moral Subjectivity

Yat-hung Leung

39 Knowledge and Knowing in Neo-Confucianism

Ya Zuo

40 Zhu Xi and the Paradox of Moral Education

Charlene Tan

41 Quiet-Sitting Meditation: A Philosophical Practice in the Cheng-Zhu Learning of Pattern- Principle

Bin Song

42 Ideal Personality and the Ways to Achieve It in Neo-Confucianism: The Teachings of Wang Yangming and His Followers as an Example

Guoxiang Peng

Biography

Brook Ziporyn is Mircea Eliade Professor of Chinese Religion, Philosophy, and Comparative Thought at the Divinity School, University of Chicago. His recent works include the monographs Ironies of Oneness and Difference (2012), Beyond Oneness and Difference (2013), Emptiness and Omnipresence (2016), and Experiments in Mystical Atheism: Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond (2024), as well as the translations Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings (2020) and Daodejing (2022).

Stephen C. Walker teaches at the University of Chicago and DePaul University. His articles on classical Chinese philosophy (particularly the Zhuangzi and related texts) have appeared in Dao, Oriens Extremus, Philosophy East and West, and other venues.

“Edited by Brook Ziporyn and Stephen C. Walker, this book is an exceptional guide through the vast landscape of Chinese philosophy. Both editors are leading figures in the field, and the book brings together an outstanding group of well-known scholars. Its unique structure in four Acts gives the volume the feel of a philosophical theater – each act offering a new scene, a new mood, a new conversation. This is not just a reference book, but a true companion: one that walks with the reader, offering insight, challenge, and orientation across different times, traditions, and transformations.”

-- Jana S. Rošker, Professor of Chinese Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

“This ambitious volume covers a wide range of topics that bear some resemblance to philosophical questions familiar to those trained in Anglophone academia, but its framing and content challenge the categories of mainstream Western philosophy and offer alternative perspectives. The overlaps and diversities among the authors – from top scholars to promising new talents in philosophy and related fields of history, sinology, religion and Asian studies – testify to the lack of rigid disciplinary boundaries in the Chinese intellectual tradition and enrich its discourse.”

-- Sor-hoon Tan, Professor of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University

“In their The Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy, Brook Ziporyn and Stephen C. Walker have gathered a colloquy of distinguished voices to each speak on behalf of a particular topic that has brought them standing in the wide-ranging field of Chinese philosophy and culture. Having convened this symposium, they are inviting their readers to a conversation among professional friends that will provide them access, coverage, and authoritative insight into a world of thought that in our time needs to be better understood.”

-- Roger T. Ames, Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University, China

“The Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy masterfully puts together a broad range of brilliant essays by leading scholars in the field. It stands out in terms of its comprehensive coverage, thematic focus, and balance between history and philosophy. One striking feature of this anthology is its in-depth engagement of Chinese Buddhist philosophy as an integral part of the Chinese intellectual tradition. As a result, the Companion has managed to foreground the integrity of Chinese philosophical deliberation, its amazing diversity and richness, as well as its contribution to the contemporary global philosophical discourse. A tour de force!”

-- Tao Jiang, Director of Rutgers Center for Chinese Studies, Rutgers University, USA

“This Companion will be my trusted guide to Chinese philosophy. Distinguished by its approach and the stellar cast it has assembled, it maps out the landmark topics and issues in Chinese philosophy, enabling a deep exploration of its rich terrain. While you may not be able to read all 42 chapters uninterrupted, you will appreciate the integral world of Chinese thought even more so if you do!”

-- Alan Chan, Provost and Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Chair Professor of Inter-Religious Studies, Singapore Management University