List of Chinese philosophers

Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

• Confucius
  Confucius
  Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
  
  , arguably the most influential Chinese philosopher ever.
• Dong Zhongshu
  Dong Zhongshu
  Dong Zhongshu was a Han Dynasty Chinese scholar. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state.-History:...
  
  , integrated Yin Yang cosmology into a Confucian ethical framework.
• Gaozi
• Mencius
  Mencius
  Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
  
  , idealist who proposed mankind is innately benevolent.
• Wang Fu
  Wang Fu (philosopher)
  Wang Fu , which endorsed the Confucian model of government.-Further reading:* Ann Behnke Kinney. The Art of the Han Essay: Wang Fu's Ch'ien-Fu Lun. Phoenix: Arizona State University Center for Asian Research, 1990. ISBN 0-939252-23-6...
  
  , endorsed the Confucian model of government.
• Wang Mang
  Wang Mang
  Wang Mang , courtesy name Jujun , was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin Dynasty , ruling AD 9–23. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow and his rule marks the separation between the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty...
  
  , Emperor who sought to create a harmonious society, yet chaos resulted.
• Xun Zi
  Xun Zi
  Xun Zi was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought. Xun Zi believed man's inborn tendencies need to be curbed through education and ritual, counter to Mencius's view that man is innately good...
  
  , broke from Mencius' view, instead arguing that morality is extrinsic.
• Yen Yuan
  Yen Yuan
  This is the article about Late Imperial period of China. For Yan Yuan, the disciple of Confucius, see Yan Hui.Yan Yuan , zi Yizhi or Hunran, hao Xizhai founded a practical school of Confucianism to contrast with the more ethereal Neo-Confucianism that had been popular in China for the previous six...
  
  
• Zengzi
  Zengzi
  Zengzi , born Zeng Shen , courtesy name Ziyu , was a Chinese philosopher and student of Confucius.He is credited with having authored a large portion of the Great Learning, including its foreword. Zengzi's disciples are believed to have been among the most important compilers of the Analects of...
  
  
• Zheng Xuan
  Zheng Xuan
  Zheng Xuan , courtesy name Kangcheng , was an influential Chinese commentator and Confucian scholar of the Han Dynasty. He was born in modern Weifang, Shandong, and was a student of Ma Rong.-See also:*Three Kingdoms...
  
  
• Zisi

Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

• Chen Tuan
• Ge Hong
  Ge Hong
  Ge Hong , courtesy name Zhichuan , was a minor southern official during the Jìn Dynasty of China, best known for his interest in Daoism, alchemy, and techniques of longevity...
  
  
• Laozi
  Laozi
  Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
  
  (Lao Tzŭ), illusive founder of Taoism
  Taoism
  Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
  
   and author of the Tao te Ching
  Tao Te Ching
  The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
  
   (Book of the Way).
• Lie Yukou
  Lie Yukou
  Lie Yukou is considered the author of the Daoist book Liezi, which uses his honorific name Liezi . The second Chinese character in Yukou is written kou 寇 "bandit; enemy"; the first is written yu 圄 "imprison", yu 禦 "resist; ward off", or occasionally yu 御 "drive ; ride ; control" Lie Yukou is...
  
  , said to be the author of the Daoist book Liezi
  Liezi
  The Liezi is a Daoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, a circa 5th century BCE Hundred Schools of Thought philosopher, but Chinese and Western scholars believe it was compiled around the 4th century CE.-Textual history:...
  
  
• Yang Xiong
• Zhang Daoling
  Zhang Daoling
  Zhang Ling , style name Fuhan , was an Eastern Han Dynasty Taoist hermit who founded the Way of the Celestial Masters sect of Taoism, which is also known as the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice....
  
  
• Zhang Jue
• Zhang Sanfeng
  Zhang Sanfeng
  Zhang Sanfeng was a semi-legendary Chinese Taoist priest who is believed by some to have achieved immortality, said variously to date from either the late Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty or Ming Dynasty. His name is said to have been Zhang Junbao 張君寶 before he became a Taoist.Zhang's legend is that of...
  
  
• Zhuangzi
  Zhuangzi
  Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...
  
   (Chuang Tzŭ), mystical and relativistic skeptic.

Chinese Naturalism

School of Naturalists

The School of Naturalists or the School of Yin-yang was a Warring States era philosophy that synthesized the concepts of yin-yang and the Five Elements; Zou Yan is considered the founder of this school...

• Zou Yan
  Zou Yan
  Zou Yan was the representative thinker of the Yin and Yang during the Hundred Schools of Thought era in Chinese philosophy. Zou Yan was a noted scholar of the Jixia Academy in the state of Qi...
  
  , combined the theories of Yin-Yang and The Five Elements.

Mohism

Mohism

Mohism or Moism was a Chinese philosophy developed by the followers of Mozi , 470 BC–c.391 BC...

• Mozi
  Mozi
  Mozi |Lat.]] as Micius, ca. 470 BC – ca. 391 BC), original name Mo Di , was a Chinese philosopher during the Hundred Schools of Thought period . Born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, China, he founded the school of Mohism, and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism...
  
   (Mo Tzŭ), utilitarian and founder of the Mohist
  Mohism
  Mohism or Moism was a Chinese philosophy developed by the followers of Mozi , 470 BC–c.391 BC...
  
   school.
• Lu Ban
  Lu Ban
  Lu Ban was a Chinese carpenter, engineer, philosopher, inventor, military thinker, statesman and contemporary of Mozi, born in the State of Lu, and is the patron Saint of Chinese builders and contractors. He was born in a renowned family during the Spring and Autumn Period when China was...
  
  

Legalism

Legalism (Chinese philosophy)

In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....

• Chao Cuo
  Chao Cuo
  Cháo Cuò was a Chinese political advisor and official of the Han Dynasty , renowned for his intellectual capabilities and foresight in martial and political matters. Although not against the philosophy of Confucius , he was described by later Eastern Han scholars as a Legalist...
  
  
• Han Feizi, synthesizer of Legalist
  Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
  In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....
  
   theories.
• Li Kui
• Li Si
  Li Si
  Li Si was the influential Prime Minister of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China—and his son, Qin Er Shi...
  
  
• Shang Yang
  Shang Yang
  Shang Yang was an important statesman of the State of Qin during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Born Wei Yang in the State of Wei, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin Yang enacted numerous reforms in Qin...
  
  
• Shen Buhai
  Shen Buhai
  Shen Buhai was a Chinese bureaucrat who was the Chancellor of Han under Marquis Zhao of Han from 351 BC to 337 BC. Shen was born in the State of Zheng; he was likely to have been a minor official for the State of Zheng. After Han conquered Zheng in 375 BC, he rose up in the ranks of the Han...
  
  
• Shen Dao
  Shen Dao
  Shen Dao was an itinerant Chinese philosopher from Zhao, who was a scholar at the Jixia Academy in Qi. He is usually referred to as Shenzi 慎子.-Overview:...
  
  
• Zi Chan
  Zi Chan
  Zi Chan , also known as Gongsun Qiao , was a statesman of the State of Zheng in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period. Born in Zheng to an aristocratic family, Zi Chan was a statesman of Zheng from 544 BC until his death. Under Zi Chan, Zheng even managed to expand its territory, a...
  
  

The Logicians

Logicians

The Logicians or School of Names was a Chinese philosophical school that grew out of Mohism in the Warring States Period 479–221 BCE....

• Deng Xi
  Deng Xi
  Deng Xi was a Chinese lawyer and rhetorician who has been called the founding father of the Chinese logical tradition. He is regarded as one of the School of Names.-Biography:...
  
  
• Hui Shi
  Hui Shi
  Hui Shi , or Huizi , was a Chinese philosopher during the Warring States Period. He was a representative of the School of Names , and is famous for ten paradoxes about the relativity of time and space, for instance, "I set off for Yue today and came there yesterday."-Works mentioning Hui Shi:The...
  
  , relativistic Logician
  Logicians
  The Logicians or School of Names was a Chinese philosophical school that grew out of Mohism in the Warring States Period 479–221 BCE....
  
   who influenced Zhuangzi.
• Gongsun Long, Logician
  Logicians
  The Logicians or School of Names was a Chinese philosophical school that grew out of Mohism in the Warring States Period 479–221 BCE....
  
   who was known for his paradoxes.

Xuanxue

Xuanxue

Xuanxue , Neo-Taoism, or Neo-Daoism is the focal school of thought in Chinese philosophy from the third to sixth century CE. Xuanxue philosophers combined elements of Confucianism and Taoism to reinterpret the Yijing, Daodejing, and Zhuangzi.The name compounds xuan 玄 "black, dark; mysterious,...

• Guo Xiang
  Guo Xiang
  Guo Xiang , is credited with the first and most important revision of the text known as the Zhuangzi which, along with the Laozi, forms the textual and philosophical basis of the Taoist school of thought...
  
  
• Wang Bi
  Wang Bi
  Wang Bi , style name Fusi , was a Chinese neotaoist philosopher.-Biography:Wang Bi's most important works are commentaries on Laozi's Dao De Jing and the I Ching. The text of the Dao De Jing that appeared with his commentary was widely considered as the best copy of this work until the discovery of...
  
  , Three Kingdoms philosopher
• Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
  Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
  The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove were a group of Chinese Taoist Qingtan scholars, writers, and musicians who came together in the 3rd century CE. Although the individual members all existed, their interconnection is not entirely certain...
  
  
  • Ruan Ji
    Ruan Ji
    Ruǎn Jí is one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. He is associated with the guqin melody, Jiu Kuang which was believed to be composed by him.- Historical background :...
    
    
  • Ji Kang
  • Shan Tao
    Shan Tao
    Shan Tao may refer to:*Shan-tao , the third patriarch of Pure Land Buddhism, and influential writer*Shan Tao , one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove...
    
    
  • Liu Ling
    Liu Ling
    Liu Ling , born 221 and died 300, was a Chinese poet and scholar. Little information survives about his family background, though he is described in historical sources as short and unattractive, with a dissipated appearance....
    
    
  • Ruan Xian
    Ruan Xian
    Ruan Xian , a Chinese scholar who lived during the Six Dynasties period, is one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. He was a skilled player of the Chinese lute, an old version of pipa which has been called ruan after his name since the Tang Dynasty. His achievement in music reached such high as...
    
    
  • Xiang Xiu
    Xiang Xiu
    Xiang Xiu is one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.His most famous contribution is a commentary on the Zhuangzi, which was later used and amended by Guo Xiang. After his friend Xi Kang was killed by the ruling Jin dynasty, Xiang carefully interpreted his previous antagonistic words to the...
    
    
  • Wang Rong
    Wang Rong
    Wang Rong , style name Junchong , was a politician of the Jin Dynasty period of Chinese history.Wang Rong served under Jin as the 3rd East General. Wang Rong participated during the final conquest of Eastern Wu, where he led his army as far as to that of Wuchang...
    
    

Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

• Huineng
  Huineng
  Dajian Huineng was a Chinese Chán monastic who is one of the most important figures in the entire tradition, according to standard Zen hagiographies...
  
  , The 6th buddhist patriarch of the Chan (Zen) School in China, he established the concept of "no mind".
• Linji
  Linji
  Línjì Yìxuán was the founder of the Linji school of Chán Buddhism during Tang Dynasty China. Linji was born into a family named Xing in Caozhou , which he left at a young age to study Buddhism in many places....
  
   (Lin-chi), founder of the Linji school of Chan
  Zen
  Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
  
   (Zen) Buddhism in China, a branch of which is the Rinzai school
  Rinzai school
  The Rinzai school is , one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Linji Yixuan...
  
   in Japan.
• Zhaozhou
  Zhaozhou
  Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn , was a Chán Buddhist master especially known for his "paradoxical statements and strange deeds".Zhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn , a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī , and eventually received the Dharma from him...
  
  , A famous chan (Zen) master during the 8th century, noted for his wisdom. Became known for his subtle teaching methods and his use of gongans.
• Jizang
  Jizang
  Jizang was a Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar who is often regarded as the founder of the Three Treatise School. He is also known as Jiaxiang or Master Jiaxiang , because he acquired fame at the Jiaxiang Temple.-Biography:...
  
  
• Sengzhao
  Sengzhao
  Sengzhao , from Jingzhao, was a Buddhist Chinese philosopher and the first disciple of Kumārajīva. He helped translate Indian treatises and also wrote his own. These form the only source of study for early Chinese Mādhyamika Buddhism...
  
  
• Yi Xing
  Yi Xing
  Yi Xing , born Zhang Sui , was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, mechanical engineer,and Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty...
  
  
• Zhi Dun
• Xuanzang
  Xuanzang
  Xuanzang was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator who described the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period...
  
  
• Huiyuan

Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

• Zhou Dunyi, argued for the inseparability of metaphysics and ethics.
  • Cheng Yi
    Cheng Yi (philosopher)
    Cheng Yi , courtesy name Zhengshu , also known as Mr. Yichuan , was a Chinese philosopher born in Luoyang during the Song Dynasty. He worked with his older brother Cheng Hao . Like his brother, he was a student of Zhou Dunyi, a friend of Shao Yong, and a nephew of Zhang Zai...
    
    , made enemies with other philosophers, resulting in his works being banned.
  • Cheng Hao
    Cheng Hao
    Chéng Hào , styled Bochun , was a neo-Confucian philosopher from Luoyang, China. In his youth, he and his younger brother Cheng Yi were students of Zhou Dunyi, one of the architects of Neo-Confucian cosmology.-Life:...
    
    , brother to Cheng Yi.
  • Zhu Xi
    Zhu Xi
    Zhū​ Xī​ or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
    
    (Chu Hsi), rationalist and leading figure of the School of Principle.
    • Chen Hongmou
      Chen Hongmou
      Chen Hongmou , courtesy name Ruzi and Rongmen , was a Chinese official, scholar, and philosopher, who is widely regarded as a model official of the Qing Dynasty.-Life:...
      
      , argued for racial and sexual equality in the place of education.
    • Wang Fuzhi
      Wang Fuzhi
      Wang Fuzhi , 1619–1692) courtesy name Ernong , pseudonym Chuanshan , was a Chinese philosopher of the late Ming, early Qing dynasties.-Life:...
      
      , believed Confucius
      Confucius
      Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
      
      ' teachings had become distorted, so wrote his own commentaires.
    • Wang Yangming
      Wang Yangming
      Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...
      
      , idealist and leading figure of the School of Mind.
      • Li Zhi, preached a form of moral relativism.
      • Qian Dehong
        Qian Dehong
        Qian Dehong, or Qian De-hong, Tsien Dehong , was a notable Chinese philosopher, writer, and educator during the mid-late Ming Dynasty.-Biography:...
        
        , further developed The Yangming School of Mind.
      • Xu Ai
        Xu Ai
        Xu Ai , was an important Chinese philosopher during the mid-late Ming Dynasty. He was also a magistrate and writer.-Biography:...
        
        , ardent follower of Wang Yangming
        Wang Yangming
        Wang Yangming was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official, educationist, calligraphist and general. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, with interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox...
        
        .
      • Huang Zongxi
        Huang Zongxi
        Huang Zongxi , courtesy name Taichong , was the name of a Chinese naturalist, political theorist, philosopher, and soldier during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part the Qing.-Biography:...
        
        , one of the first Neo-Confucians to stress the need for constitutional law.
      • Zhan Ruoshui
        Zhan Ruoshui
        Zhan Ruoshui , was a Chinese philosopher, educator and a Confucian scholar.-Biography:Zhan was born in Zengcheng, Guangdong. He was appointed the president of Nanjing Guozijian in 1524...
        
        , lifelong friend to Wang Yangming.

• Han Yu
  Han Yu
  Han Yu , born in Nanyang, Henan, China, was a precursor of Neo-Confucianism as well as an essayist and poet, during the Tang dynasty. The Indiana Companion calls him "comparable in stature to Dante, Shakespeare or Goethe" for his influence on the Chinese literary tradition . He stood for strong...
  
  , precursor to Neo-Confucianism, essayist, and poet.
• Lu Jiuyuan
  Lu Jiuyuan
  thumb|200px|Lu JiuyuanLu Jiuyuan was a Chinese scholar and philosopher who founded the school of the universal mind, the second most influential Neo-Confucian school...
  
  , saw moral conduct as a consequence of intuitive insights into the essence of reality.
• Shao Yong
  Shao Yong
  Shao Yong , courtesy name Yaofu , named Shào Kāngjié after death, was a Song Dynasty Chinese philosopher, cosmologist, poet and historian who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism in China....
  
  , considered one of the most scholarly men of the time.
• Su Shi
  Su Shi
  Su Shi , was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...
  
  , accomplished Song Dynasty writer.
• Ye Shi
  Ye Shi
  Ye Shi , courtesy name Zhengze , pseudonym Mr. Shuixin , was a Chinese neo-Confucian of the Song dynasty.A native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, he was the most famous figure of the Yongjia School, a neo-Confucianism School composed mostly of philosophers from Wenzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang province...
  
  , stressed practical learning and applying Confucian doctrine to real world problems.
• Zhang Zai, everything is composed of qi
  Qi
  In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
  
  , and that fact explains everything.
• Lai Zhide
  Lai Zhide
  ' was a Ming period Neo-Confucian philosopher. He introduced into Chinese philosophy the well-known "Yin and Yang symbol", the taijitu ....
  
  , created the Taijitu
  Taijitu
  Taijitu is a term which refers to a Chinese symbol for the concept of yin and yang...
  
  .
• Li Ao

Philosophers that cannot be easily categorised

• Pan Pingge
  Pan Pingge
  Pan Pingge, or Pan Ping Ge, Pan Ping-ge , was a notable Chinese philosopher during the late-Ming and early-Qing period.-Biography:Pan was born in Cixi City, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province in late Ming Dynasty in 1610...
  
  , criticised Neo-Confucianism
  Neo-Confucianism
  Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
  
  , instead emphasized the search for truth in daily living.
• Dai Zhen
  Dai Zhen
  Dai Zhen was a notable Chinese scholar of the Qing Dynasty from Xiuning, Anhui. A versatile scholar, he made great contributions to mathematics, geography, phonology and philosophy...
  
  , made two arguments against Neo-Confucianism
  Neo-Confucianism
  Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
  
  .
• Sun Tzu
  Sun Tzu
  Sun Wu , style name Changqing , better known as Sun Tzu or Sunzi , was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy...
  
  , author of The Art of War
  The Art of War
  The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise that is attributed to Sun Tzu , a high ranking military general and strategist during the late Spring and Autumn period...
  
  .
• Fan Zhen
  Fan Zhen
  Fan Zhen was a Chinese philosopher of the Southern Dynasty, remembered today for his treatise Shén Miè Lùn ....
  
  , denied the ideas of reincarnation and body-soul dualism.
• Guiguzi
  Guiguzi
  Wang Xu , better known by his pseudonym Guiguzi , is an ancient Chinese philosopher from the Warring States Period of Chinese history. He was the founder of the School of Diplomacy of the Hundred Schools of Thought during that period...
  
  
• Huan Tan
  Huan Tan
  Huan Tan 桓譚 was a Chinese philosopher of the Han Dynasty and short-lived interregnum of the Xin Dynasty . Huan's mode of philosophical thought belonged to an Old Text realist tradition supported by other contemporaries such as the naturalist and mechanistic philosopher Wang Chong Huan Tan 桓譚 (c....
  
  
• Wang Chong
  Wang Chong
  Wang Chong , courtesy name Zhongren , was a Chinese philosopher active during the Han Dynasty. He developed a rational, secular, naturalistic and mechanistic account of the world and of human beings and gave a materialistic explanation of the origin of the universe. His main work was the Lùnhéng...
  
  
• Ji Hu
• Ma Rong
  Ma Rong
  Ma Rong , courtesy name Jichang , was a commentator of the Han Dynasty. He was born in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi in former Fufeng county. He was known for his commentaries on the books on the Five Classics, and the first scholar known to have done this. He also developed the double column...
  
  
• Shen Dao
  Shen Dao
  Shen Dao was an itinerant Chinese philosopher from Zhao, who was a scholar at the Jixia Academy in Qi. He is usually referred to as Shenzi 慎子.-Overview:...
  
  
• Shen Kuo
  Shen Kuo
  Shen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...
  
  
• Ximen Bao
  Ximen Bao
  Ximen Bao was an ancient Chinese government minister and court advisor to Marquis Wen of Wei during the Warring States period of China. He was known as an early rationalist, who had the State of Wei abolish by law the inhumane practice of sacrificing people to river deities...
  
  
• Yang Zhu

Modern philosophers

• Mao Zedong
  Mao Zedong
  Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
  
  
• Feng Youlan
  Feng Youlan
  Feng Youlan or Fung Yu-Lan was a Chinese philosopher who was important for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy.-Early life, education, & career:...
  
   (Fung Yu-Lan), rationalist who integrated Neo-Confucian, Taoist, and Western metaphysics.
• Jin Yuelin
  Jin Yuelin
  Jin Yuelin was a Chinese philosopher and logician. He was born in Changsha, Hunan, attended Tsinghua University from 1911-1914, obtained Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in 1920...
  
   Logical positivist and logician.
• Tu Wei-ming
  Tu Wei-ming
  Tu Weiming , b.1940, is an ethicist and a New Confucian. He is Lifetime Professor of Philosophy and founding Dean of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University...
  
  , ethicist.
• Xiong Shili
  Xiong Shili
  Xiong Shili was a modern Chinese philosopher whose major work A New Treatise on Consciousness-only is a Confucian critique of the Buddhist "consciousness-only" theory popularized in China by the Tang Dynasty pilgrim Xuanzang....
  
  
• Mou Zongsan
  Mou Zongsan
  Mou Zongsan was a Chinese New Confucian philosopher. He was born in Shandong province and graduated from Peking University. In 1949 he moved to Taiwan and later to Hong Kong, and he remained outside of Mainland China for the rest of his life...
  
  
• Tang Junyi
  Tang Junyi
  Tang Junyi was a Chinese philosopher, who was one of the leading exponents of New Confucianism. He was influenced by Plato and Hegel as well as by earlier Confucian thought....
  
  
• Xu Fuguan
  Xu Fuguan
  Xu Fuguan is a Chinese intellectual historian and philosopher. He made notable contributions in Confucianism studies, and he is attached to the contemporary New Confucianism, a philosophical movement initiated by Xiong Shili.- Biography :Xu is born in 1902 or 1903 in a family of farmers in Hubei...
  
  
• Wang Ruoshui
  Wang Ruoshui
  Wang Ruoshui , was a Chinese journalist and philosopher, major exponent of Marxist humanism in China and of Chinese liberalism.Wang studied philosophy in the late 1940s, converting to Marxism and joining the Communist Party prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949...
  
  
• Yang Rongguo
  Yang Rongguo
  Yang Rongguo was a Chinese academic and philosopher who was involved in the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign of the Cultural Revolution....
  
  
• Zhang Dongsun
  Zhang Dongsun
  Zhang Dongsun , was a Chinese philosopher, public intellectual and political figure.-Biography:...
  
  
• Carsun Chang
  Carsun Chang
  Zhang Junmai , also known by his courtesy name Carsun Chang), was a prominent Chinese philosopher, public intellectual and political figure...
  
  (Zhang Junmai)