This essay is an attempt to sketch out two contrasting notions of freedom in the Zhuangzi
and the Xunzi. I argue that to understand the classical Chinese formulations of freedom we …

There is something amiss with the phrase,“to make the world,” for the world cannot literally
be mude. We cut pieces of wood and put them together to make a chair. But the world is not …

In the twentieth century, the value of filial piety, in spite and because of its traditional
connotations, engaged the minds of Chinese thinkers. Views ranged from skeptic …

This dissertation has two major theses. The first is that the concept of" wu-wei"(" effortless
action") serves as a spiritual ideal for a group of five pre-Qin thinkers--Confucius, Laozi …

When one reads the history of Chinese philosophy, inevitably one will ask when and how
Chinese philosophy originated. The answer is that Chinese philosophy as deep thinking on …

The Penumbra Unbound is the first English language book-length study of the Neo-Taoist
thinker Guo Xiang (d. 312 CE), commentator on the classic Taoist text, the Zhuangzi. The …

Western historiography on the idea of freedom in modern China has tended to focus on its
conception as service to the state and social ends, as illustrated by studies of Liang Qichao's …

Ancient Chinese philosophers have persistently engaged in strenuous negotiations (and re-
negotiations) of the boundaries between the metaphysical and the concrete. Their worldview …

In his seminal essay “Two Concepts of Liberty,” Isaiah Berlin categorized freedom into
positive or negative liberty:“freedom to” or “freedom from.” He provided a powerful critique …

In responding to today's urgent situation full of conflicts created by selfenclosure of different
parts such as different disciplines, cultures, poh.'tical and religious groups, etc., we humans …