Constructing the “Chinese Philosophy” in Sino-European Cultural Exchange

摘要

There was not such a word as “philosophy”, or Zhe-xue, in the Chinese language, and many Westernphilosophers didn’t think there was “philosophy” in China at all. For example, Hegel thought there were only“opinions” in China, and that “no philosophic knowledge can be found here.”i The word Zhe-xue was coined by aJapanese scholar Nishiamane (1829—1897), who borrowed the two Chinese characters Zhe and Xue to indicate thePhilosophy originated in Ancient Greece and Rome. This new term was introduced into China by a Chinese scholar,Huang Zunxian (咘??, 1848—1905), and was accepted by Chinese academia. Although this term Zhe-xue wasaccepted, it is still a problem whether there is the equivalent of the Western Philosophy in China. Last year therewas just a discussion on the “validity of Chinese philosophy” in Chinese Mainland.