PapersFlow Research Brief
Chinese history and philosophy
Research Guide
What is Chinese history and philosophy?
Chinese history and philosophy is the academic study of China's religious diversity, state regulation of religion, and philosophical traditions including Confucianism, alongside historical events like the Cultural Revolution, nationalism, and the interplay of emotions with beliefs in Chinese society.
This field encompasses 349,585 works exploring topics such as Confucianism, Christianity, Falun Gong, and the history of religion in China. Key areas include the discourse of civilization, state regulation of religion, and the influence of emotions on beliefs. Research draws from highly cited sources like 'A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy' by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963), which covers the entire historical development of Chinese philosophy.
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
State Regulation of Religion in Contemporary China
This sub-topic analyzes government policies, registration systems, and crackdowns on religious groups like Falun Gong and unregistered churches. Researchers examine the interplay between religious freedom and national security.
Confucian Philosophy and Modern Chinese Society
Scholars investigate the revival of Confucianism in ethics, education, and politics post-Cultural Revolution. Studies trace its adaptation to socialist values and economic development.
Christianity in Chinese History
This area covers the historical spread of Catholicism and Protestantism, missionary impacts, and state responses from the Qing dynasty to present. Research includes sinicization processes and underground churches.
Religion During the Cultural Revolution
Researchers study the suppression, destruction of religious sites, and underground persistence of beliefs during 1966-1976. Post-revolution revival patterns are also analyzed.
Nationalism and Religious Identity in China
This sub-topic explores how nationalism intersects with Buddhism, Islam, and folk religions in ethnic regions like Xinjiang and Tibet. Studies address sinicization campaigns and identity politics.
Why It Matters
Studies in Chinese history and philosophy inform understandings of social relationships and economic growth, as shown in 'The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth' by Geert Hofstede and Michael Harris Bond (1988), which links Confucian values to economic performance with 4326 citations. Political reforms like 'Federalism, Chinese Style: The Political Basis for Economic Success in China' by Gabriella R. Montinola, Yingyi Qian, and Barry R. Weingast (1995) explain China's economic success through decentralized governance, cited 1315 times. These works apply to contemporary policy, such as state regulation of Falun Gong and nationalism, and extend to global insights on illness experience in 'Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture' by Arthur Kleinman (1980, 4750 citations).
Reading Guide
Where to Start
'A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy' by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963) because it provides the first comprehensive anthology of Chinese philosophy across its entire historical development, ideal for foundational understanding with 1429 citations.
Key Papers Explained
'Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture' by Arthur Kleinman (1980, 4750 citations) establishes cultural constructions of illness experience. 'The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth' by Geert Hofstede and Michael Harris Bond (1988, 4326 citations) builds on this by linking Confucian roots to economic outcomes. 'Federalism, Chinese Style: The Political Basis for Economic Success in China' by Gabriella R. Montinola, Yingyi Qian, and Barry R. Weingast (1995, 1315 citations) extends to political decentralization, while 'Rightful Resistance in Rural China' by Kevin J. O’Brien and Lianjiang Li (2006, 1048 citations) applies these to grassroots state interactions.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Recent preprints examine the textual history of the Analects with Lu, Qi, and old script traditions from the Western Han, alongside 'Harmony among civilizations: The influence of Chinese philosophy on Western idealism.' Events like 'Translating Chinese Philosophy into the Western Academy' (2025) and calls to 'DEVELOP PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH CHINESE FEATURES' (2025) highlight ongoing translation and policy integration efforts.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture | 1980 | — | 4.8K | ✕ |
| 2 | The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth | 1988 | Organizational Dynamics | 4.3K | ✕ |
| 3 | A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy | 1963 | Princeton University P... | 1.4K | ✕ |
| 4 | Federalism, Chinese Style: The Political Basis for Economic Su... | 1995 | World Politics | 1.3K | ✓ |
| 5 | Human Functioning and Social Justice | 1992 | Political Theory | 1.2K | ✕ |
| 6 | Gifts, favors, and banquets: the art of social relationships i... | 1995 | Choice Reviews Online | 1.2K | ✕ |
| 7 | The Social Life of Things | 1988 | RePEc: Research Papers... | 1.1K | ✕ |
| 8 | Contesting Citizenship in Urban China | 1999 | — | 1.1K | ✕ |
| 9 | Rightful Resistance in Rural China | 2006 | Cambridge University P... | 1.0K | ✕ |
| 10 | Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China | 2004 | Proceedings of the Nat... | 1.0K | ✓ |
In the News
Category Archives: Call for Papers (CFP)
Prices(1)Book Review(144)Books of Interest(430)Buddhism(137)Call for Papers (CFP)(470)China(395)Chinese philosophy –– 中國哲學–– 中国哲学(2,662)Chinese Texts(96)Comedy(4)Comparative philosophy(1,372)Compar...
Translating Chinese Philosophy
On the evening of November 18, 2025, the Berggruen “Global Thinkers Series” of lectures hosted an event titled “Translating Chinese Philosophy into the Western Academy: Better Late Than Never” at C...
DEVELOP PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH CHINESE FEATURES
# DEVELOP PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH CHINESE FEATURES Source:*Selected Readings from the Works of Xi Jinping Volume I*Updated: 2025-04-21 **Share** * *
Chinese Government Scholarship Application
scholarship recipients academic programs in science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, economics, law, management, education, history, literature, philosophy, and fine arts, among others. Please ...
News – James P. Geiss & Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation
An award from the Geiss Hsu Foundation will allow the Society for Ming Studies to continue awarding book prizes in Ming Studies to increase the visibility of pathbreaking work on Ming China within ...
Code & Tools
AC-EVAL presents a thorough evaluation suite for Large Language Models (LLMs) focusing on ancient Chinese, covering eras from the Pre-Qin period to...
This server demonstrates how traditional wisdom systems can be thoughtfully integrated with modern AI through MCP. It provides: * **Educational exp...
materials and gold-standard texts. ●Dataset A （Printed Texts） consists of data selected from the*Siku Quanshu*(Complete Library of the Four Treasur...
Chinese-English dictionary and digital library of literary Chinese classic and historic texts for English speakers. It includes a framework that ca...
2. Xunzi-Yayun-R1 Xunzi-Yayun-R1Public Xunzi-Yayun-R1是一个基于GRPO强化学习的小样本唐诗生成推理模型。 HTML 7 3. Xunzi\_for\_ancient\_chinese\_relation\_extraction Xunzi...
Recent Preprints
Asian Philosophy | Journal
_"The author-contributors to **Asian Philosophy** are the leading authorities in their respective areas of expertise. The articles provide the latest creative scholarly insights and research concer...
Harmony among civilizations: The influence of Chinese ...
Search Academic Articles Harmony among civilizations: The influence of Chinese philosophy on Western idealism and... # Harmony among civilizations: The influence of Chinese philosophy on Western...
Open access articles | Early China | Cambridge Core
The textual history of the Analects (論語) has long been based on narratives according to which disciples of Confucius (tr. 551–479 bce) recorded his sayings after his death. During the Western Han (...
Chinese Studies: Pre-Modern History - Research Guides
** The CNKI Database **(China National Knowledge Infrastructure) is a very comprehensive database for finding full-text scholarly articles in Chinese. BYU has access to journals in literature, hist...
Ancient Chinese Philosophy of Education: Insights and ...
profoundly humanistic thought system that emphasized the combination of ethics, knowledge, and social responsibility in education. Formed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (6...
Latest Developments
Recent developments in Chinese history and philosophy research include the upcoming 14th International Whitehead Conference in Zhuhai in July 2026, focusing on process philosophy and its relevance to contemporary challenges (ctr4process.org), and the 10th World Conference of Chinese Studies in Hong Kong in August 2026, covering topics from classical to modern Chinese thought (china-studies.com). Additionally, scholarly work on early Chinese manuscripts related to Confucian texts continues, with new evidence on the formation of the Analects from around 300 BCE published in May 2025 (Cambridge.org). Recent academic publications also include a comprehensive volume on Chinese philosophy published in early 2026 (routledge.com) and a quantitative analysis of semantic boundaries in four ancient Chinese philosophies from August 2025 (npj Heritage Science).
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the scope of 'A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy'?
'A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy' by Wing-Tsit Chan (1963) is the first anthology covering the entire historical development of Chinese philosophy. It serves as a milestone for Western understanding of Asian thought. The work has 1429 citations.
How does Confucianism relate to economic growth?
'The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth' by Geert Hofstede and Michael Harris Bond (1988) examines Confucian cultural roots as a basis for economic growth. It has 4326 citations. The paper connects philosophy to organizational dynamics.
What is federalism, Chinese style?
'Federalism, Chinese Style: The Political Basis for Economic Success in China' by Gabriella R. Montinola, Yingyi Qian, and Barry R. Weingast (1995) describes institutionalized decentralization as the foundation for China's economic success. This form provides credible commitment to markets. It has 1315 citations.
What methods do rural Chinese use for resistance?
'Rightful Resistance in Rural China' by Kevin J. O’Brien and Lianjiang Li (2006) shows how the poor exploit divisions within the state using its rhetoric. Popular action hinges on interviews and surveys from rural China. The book has 1048 citations.
What fermented beverages existed in ancient China?
'Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China' by Patrick E. McGovern et al. (2004) reveals chemical evidence of a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey, hawthorn fruit, and/or grape from the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu. Analyses were on pottery jars from the early Neolithic village. It has 1026 citations.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do state regulations shape the evolution of religious diversity including Falun Gong and Christianity in modern China?
- ? In what ways do emotions influence belief systems and nationalism within Chinese philosophical traditions?
- ? How has the Cultural Revolution impacted the discourse of civilization and Confucianism's role in contemporary society?
- ? What divisions within the state enable rightful resistance by rural populations, as per O’Brien and Li?
- ? How do ancient fermented beverages reflect early cultural and philosophical practices in proto-historic China?
Recent Trends
The field maintains 349,585 works with focus on ancient texts like the Analects' textual traditions in recent open access articles from Early China.
2025Preprints such as 'Harmony among civilizations: The influence of Chinese philosophy on Western idealism' explore cross-cultural influences.
2025News covers translating Chinese philosophy into Western contexts and developing philosophy with Chinese features per Xi Jinping readings (2025), alongside tools like AC-EVAL for LLM evaluation of ancient Chinese texts.
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