A Treatise on the History of Chinese Thought (Volume 1, 2, and 3)

Author: Li Zehou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: A History of Chinese Thought collects three widely influential books by the author: A History of Ancient Chinese Thought, A History of Modern Chinese Thought, and A History of Contemporary Chinese Thought. Ancient proposes that "pragmatic rationality" and "hedonistic culture" are the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture, and uses these concepts to discuss the main trends, schools, and figures of Chinese thought from the pre-Qin to the Ming-Qing dynasties. It argues that Chinese dialectics is "action-oriented" rather than speculative; the cosmology of "Heaven-M Humanity Resonance" formed during the Qin-Han period, with its organic feedback mechanism, continues to influence the present; the philosophy of Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism represents an aesthetic pursuit of metaphysical life; Neo-Confucianism of the Song-Ming dynasties, as a moral metaphysics, holds significant value; and the tradition of combining politics and religion began to waver during the Ming-Qing period, among other insights. Modern and Contemporary explore the trends and figures of thought, either explicitly or implicitly, to propose arguments such as the supremacy of salvation over enlightenment, the superiority of reform over revolution, and the infiltration of populism moralism into Marxism, among others. They also offer authorial analyses and critiques of Yan Fu, Zhang Taiyan, Lu Xun, and 20th-century Chinese New Literature, as well as modern New Confucianism, all in the author's unique style. The text of this book has continuously sparked strong reactions, and its influence remains undiminished to this day.