Peking University, Beijing, Sept. 17, 2010: A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (PUP Edition), a representative work of Prof. Feng Youlan (1895-1990), prominent Chinese philosopher and PKU professor, was launched into market in a brand new version by Peking University Press (PUP) after its disappearance for almost a decade. Based on Feng’s lecture notes when he was teaching Chinese philosophy in the University of Pennsylvania in 1947, its original English version was published by Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Well-renowned overseas as a “generally used textbook on Chinese philosophy by institutions of higher learning around the world,” the book has a global popularity and influence for more than thirty years, before famous scholar Xu Youguang, Prof. Feng Youlan’s student, translated it back into Chinese under Feng’s guidance. Peking University Press gained the exclusive copyright of the Chinese version and soon found it a best-seller among academic works.

This translated version was the only one that Prof. Feng Youlan has examined and revised himself. The translation was well revised once more this time with a brand new package, which gives readers a fresh visual effect and become more suitable for contemporary readers for appreciation as well as collection.

A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy covers the development of Chinese philosophy in more than 200 000 words, associating relative knowledge, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and its material is well selected, its writing fluent, natural. In limited length, Prof. Feng’s understanding of Chinese philosophy and his feeling about life form the crystals of grand history and individual thoughts, which abounds with wisdom of life and insights of a philosopher. Particularly, Feng’s profound care about real life arouses readers’ meditation, in their process of understanding Chinese culture. The book is both a guide to Chinese traditional culture as well as a cultural classic which benefits readers in many aspects. Mr. Li Shenzhi, famous scholar and former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, once commented that for those Chinese who know, study or research into Chinese philosophy, Feng Youlan is the one that can be “passed” in time yet never transcended in history. A Brief History of Chinese philosophy has contributed to this appraisal. Ms. Zong Pu, famous scholar, writer, Mao Dun Literature Award winner, and Prof. Feng’s daughter, has given an apt description of the book, “I often think that this book is like a panacea after smelting from heaven, able to condense the immense history to one swallow!” Famous scholar Chen Lai, Dean of Tsinghua Academy of Chinese Learning, feels the same way that he has never seen any other work of Chinese philosophy in the world that is comparable to this book.

Translated by: Chen Long
Edited by: Jacques
Source: PKU News (Chinese)