Outline of the History of Chinese Philosophy

Author: Hu Shi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Chinese philosophy is regarded as one of the major traditional philosophies in the world, making outstanding contributions to the history of human civilization. Its influence extends to Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries, and it has also had a significant impact on the French Enlightenment and Western philosophy such as Leibniz. If the world is likened to a cone, one end pointing to infinitesimally small, and the other to infinitesimally large, then Western philosophy guides us toward the infinitesimally small, while Chinese philosophy guides us toward the infinitesimally large. Dr. Hu Shi's book is the result of examining the infinitesimally large from the infinitesimally small. It brought Hu Shi lifelong honor and status, making him renowned overnight—truly, half of a History of Philosophy was enough to conquer the world.
This book was reprinted in 1929 and included in the Wan Yuan Library published by the Commercial Press, renamed A History of Ancient Chinese Philosophy. This reprinted edition was later published as a standalone book by the Commercial Press in Taiwan in 1958. The praise it has received is inexpressible; it is regarded as a groundbreaking work, truly a monumental work in the history of Chinese culture, an epoch-making book, a positive outcome of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, and a pioneering work in the study of Chinese intellectual history. It laid an unshakable foundation for Hu Shi's academic status. His keen observation, meticulous organization, and bold creativity are timeless legacies. It is the first work by Chinese scholars to systematically study the history of ancient Chinese philosophy using modern academic methods. Its publication is considered a milestone in the establishment of the discipline of the history of Chinese philosophy. Hu Shi's pioneering contributions cannot be overlooked. It is the first systematic application of bourgeois perspectives and methods in the history of ancient Chinese philosophy in modern China, holding significant progressive historical meaning in the development of the historiography of Chinese philosophy and occupying an important position in the field.