Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy

The Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy features more than 40 chapter-length introductions to the concepts, claims, and arguments that animate the Chinese philosophical tradition. Taking a topic-by-topic rather than text-by-text approach, this Companion aims at helping contemporary Anglophone readers access the philosophical riches of the Chinese tradition by balancing close analysis with broad contextualization.
The book is divided into four "Acts" that reflect system-level changes in how the Chinese philosophical conversation has been conducted:

• Act I draws primarily on pre-imperial texts, foregrounding competition among persuaders in the absence of a geographical or canonical center of gravity.
• Act II focuses on the early imperial centralization of intellectual culture around the corpus of Confucian classics.
• Act III restructures the conversation space according to the radically innovative priorities of Buddhism.
• Act IV focuses on Neo-Confucianism, which combines some of the priorities of Act II with the ongoing legacy of Act III.

Within each Act, contributors focus on topics like religious and political thought, ethics and self-cultivation, philosophical anthropology and theory of agency, language, epistemology, metaphysics, hermeneutics, and debate. This volume is essential reading for students, academics, and philosophers with an interest in Chinese philosophy.

List of contents

Introduction Act I 1 Sociopolitical Context: Problems and Opportunities 2 Heaven, Spirits, and Fate 3 Divination, Prediction, and Human Agency 4 Military Affairs and Justified Violence 5 Basic Moral Values and Virtues 6 The Development of Law in Early Chinese Political Philosophy 7 The Constitution of the Human Person 8 Agency 9 Names and Speech in Warring States Thought 10 Knowledge and Argumentation 11 Dao and What Is Above Forms Act II 12 Dao and Intellectual Diversity: Three Ways of Finding Our Way Forward 13 Early Chinese Philosophy of History 14 Chinese Identity, Confucian Ethnocentrism, and the Idea of the Civilization-State 15 Early Literary Thought 16 Music in Early Chinese Philosophy 17 Gender Discourse in the Confucian Classics and Han Confucianism 18 Filial Piety (Xiao): A Crucial but Contested Virtue 19 Yinyang Thinking: The Power of Connectivity 20 Heaven and Fate in Han Period Thought 21 Things and What Is Beyond All Things: Clarifying the Relationship Between You and Wu in Wei-Jin Xuanxue 22 Agency and Morality in Xuanxue Thought Act III 23 Chinese Reactions to and Adaptations of Buddhist Monasticism 24 Relations Among the Three Teachings 25 Expedient Means and Conventional Truth 26 Language and Beyond Language in Chinese Buddhism 27 On Artistic Creations 28 Emptiness in Chinese Buddhism 29 Buddha-nature 30 Consciousness 31 Theory and Practice in Huayan Buddhism 32 Desire, Human Nature, and Relational Virtuosity: Chan Buddhist Insights Act IV 33 Philosophy of Literature in Middle Period China (800-1400) 34 Middle Period Arguments on the Compatibility of the Three Teachings: The Positions of Chao Jiong, Qisong, and Li Chunfu 35 Things and What Is Beyond All Things 36 Cosmology and Physical Science 37 Constitution of the Human Person 38 Agency and Moral Subjectivity 39 Knowledge and Knowing in Neo-Confucianism 40 Zhu Xi and the Paradox of Moral Education 41 Quiet-Sitting Meditation: A Philosophical Practice in the Cheng-Zhu Learning of Pattern- Principle 42 Ideal Personality and the Ways to Achieve It in Neo-Confucianism: The Teachings of Wang Yangming and His Followers as an Example

About the author

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.

Report

"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. Rosker, 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

Product details

• Authors: Brook (Divinity School Ziporyn
• Assisted by: Stephen C. Walker (Editor), Brook Ziporyn (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 08.10.2025
• EAN: 9781041111559
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4111155-9
• No. of pages: 472
• Series: Routledge philosophy companions
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); China, PHILOSOPHY / General, Buddhism, Religion: general, Regional Studies, Regional / International studies, Asian History, Philosophical traditions and schools of thought, Non-Western philosophy, East Asian religions, Oriental Religions