Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developments. Although much of Chinese philosophy begun in the Warring States period, elements of Chinese philosophy have existed for several thousand years. Some can be found in the I Ching, an ancient compendium of divination, which dates back to at least 672 BCE.
Mohism or Moism was an ancient Chinese philosophy of ethics and logic, rational thought, and scientific technology developed by the scholars who studied under the ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi, embodied in an eponymous book: the Mozi. Among its major ethical tenets were altruism and a universal, unbiased respect and concern for all people regardless of relations or affiliations. The ideology also stressed the virtues of austerity and utilitarianism.
Mozi was a Chinese philosopher, logician and essayist who founded the school of Mohism during the Hundred Schools of Thought period. The ancient text Mozi contains material ascribed to him and his followers.
The School of Names, sometimes called the School of Forms and Names, was a school of Chinese philosophy that grew out of Mohism during the Warring States period in 479–221 BCE. The followers of the Xingmingjia School of Names were sometimes called the Logicians or Disputers. Sima Tan is the earliest to term them Mingjia. Amongst others, figures associated with it include Deng Xi, Yin Wen, Hui Shi, and Gongsun Long. A contemporary of Confucius and the younger Mozi, Deng Xi, associated with litigation, is cited by Liu Xiang as the originator of the school of names principle of xíngmíng (刑名), or ensuring that ministers' deeds (xing) harmonized with their words (ming).
Fajia, often translated as Legalism, was a school of thought from classical Chinese philosophy. It represents several branches of thought from early thinkers, such as Guan Zhong, Li Kui, Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, and Han Fei, whose reform ideas contributed greatly to the establishment of the bureaucratic Chinese empire. With early figures mainly from the Warring States period, and an influence in the Qin, it formed into a school of thought in the Han dynasty. The Qin to Tang were more characterized by the tradition.
The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the late Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China.
Shen Buhai was a Chinese essayist, philosopher, and politician. The Shiji records that he served as Chancellor of the Han state under Marquis Zhao of Han for fifteen years, from 351 BC or 354 to his supposed death in 337 BC. He died of natural causes while in office. A contemporary of syncretist Shi Jiao and "Legalist" Shang Yang, he was born in the State of Zheng, and was likely a minor official there. After Han conquered Zheng in 375 BC, he rose up in the ranks of the Han officialdom, dividing up its territories and successfully reforming it.
Shen Dao was a Chinese philosopher and writer. He was a Chinese Legalist theoretician most remembered for his influence on Han Fei with regards to the concept of shi, but most of his book concerns the concept of fa more commonly shared among. Compared with western schools, Shen Dao considered laws that are not good "still preferable to having no laws at all."
Xunzi, born Xun Kuang, was a Chinese philosopher of Confucianism during the late Warring States period. After his predecessors Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi is often ranked as the third great Confucian philosopher of antiquity. By his time, Confucianism had suffered considerable criticism from Daoist and Mohist thinkers, and Xunzi is traditionally regarded as a synthesizer of these traditions with earlier Confucian thought. The result was a thorough and cohesive revision of Confucianism, which was crucial to the philosophy's ability to flourish in the Han dynasty and throughout the later history of East Asia. His works were compiled in the eponymous Xunzi, and survive in excellent condition. Unlike other ancient compilations, his authorship of these texts is generally secure, though it is likely that Western Han Dynasty historian Liu Xiang organized them into their present form centuries after Xunzi's death.
Han Fei, also known as Han Feizi or Han Fei Zi, was a Chinese Legalist philosopher and statesman during the Warring States period. He was a prince of the state of Han.
The Han Feizi is an ancient Chinese text attributed to the Legalist political philosopher Han Fei. It comprises a selection of essays in the Legalist tradition, elucidating theories of state power, and synthesizing the methodologies of his predecessors. Its 55 chapters, most of which date to the Warring States period mid-3rd century BCE, are the only such text to survive fully intact. The Han Feizi is believed to contain the first commentaries on the Dao De Jing. Temporarily coming to overt power as an ideology with the ascension of the Qin dynasty, the First Emperor of Qin and succeeding emperors often followed the template set by Han Fei.
Formal logic in China has a special place in the history of logic due to its length of and relative isolation to the strong ancient adoption and continued current of development of the study of logic in Europe, India, and the Islamic world.
The Book of Lord Shang is an ancient Chinese text from the 3rd century BC, regarded as a foundational work of "Chinese Legalism". The earliest surviving of such texts, it is named for and to some extent attributed to major Qin reformer Shang Yang, who served as minister to Duke Xiao of Qin from 359 BC until his death in 338 BC and is generally considered to be the father of that state's "legalism".
The rectification of names is originally a doctrine of feudal Confucian designations and relationships, behaving accordingly to ensure social harmony. Without such accordance society would essentially crumble and "undertakings would not be completed." Mencius extended the doctrine to include questions of political legitimacy.
Deng Xi was a Chinese philosopher and rhetorician who was associated with the Chinese philosophical tradition School of Names. Once a senior official of the Zheng state, and a contemporary of Confucius, he is regarded as China's earliest known lawyer, with clever use of words and language in lawsuits. The Zuo Zhuan and Annals of Lü Buwei critically credit Deng with the authorship of a penal code, the earliest known statute in Chinese criminology entitled the "Bamboo Law". This was developed to take the place of the harsh, more Confucian criminal code developed by the Zheng statesman Zichan.
Huang–Lao was the most influential Chinese school of thought in the early Han dynasty, having its origins in a broader political-philosophical drive looking for solutions to strengthen the feudal order as depicted in Zhou politics. Not systematically explained by historiographer Sima Qian, it is generally interpreted as a school of Syncretism, developing into a major religion, the beginnings of religious Taoism.
State consequentialism, also known as Mohist consequentialism, is a consequentialist ethical theory which evaluates the moral worth of an action based on how it contributes to the basic goods of a state, through social order, material wealth, and population growth. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Mohist consequentialism, dating back to the 5th century BC, is the "world's earliest form of consequentialism, a remarkably sophisticated version based on a plurality of intrinsic goods taken as constitutive of human welfare". The term state consequentialism has also been applied to the political philosophy of the Confucian philosopher Xunzi.
The Xunzi is an ancient Chinese collection of philosophical writings attributed to and named after Xun Kuang, a 3rd-century BCE philosopher usually associated with the Confucian tradition. The Xunzi emphasizes education and propriety, and asserts that "human nature is detestable". The text is an important source of early theories of ritual, cosmology, and governance. The ideas within the Xunzi are thought to have exerted a strong influence on Legalist thinkers, such as Han Fei, and laid the groundwork for much of Han dynasty political ideology. The text criticizes a wide range of other prominent early Chinese thinkers, including Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, and Mencius.
In Chinese philosophy, xin refers to the "heart" and "mind". Literally, xin refers to the physical heart, though it also refers to the "mind" as the ancient Chinese believed the heart was the center of human cognition. However, emotion and reason were not considered as separate, but rather as coextensive; xin is as much cognitive as emotional, being simultaneously associated with thought and feeling. For these reasons, it is also often translated as "heart-mind". It has a connotation of intention, yet can be used to refer to long-term goals.
