Feng Youlan

Feng Youlan (1895–1990), courtesy name Zhisheng, was a native of Tanghe, Henan, and a renowned modern Chinese philosopher, historian of philosophy, and educator, as well as one of the principal founders of the discipline of Chinese philosophy history. A graduate of Peking University, he later earned a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University. He served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and dean of the College of Arts at Tsinghua University and as a professor at National Southwestern Associated University, and later taught at Peking University. His writing is distinguished by a broad vision bridging Chinese and Western philosophy, and he was skilled at tracing the Chinese intellectual tradition within a clear historical context. His major works include A History of Chinese Philosophy, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, New Edition of the History of Chinese Philosophy, and the "Six Books of the Zhenyuan Era." Among them, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy has long circulated as an accessible introduction for general readers and has had wide influence.