Names and Actualities
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Students studying the history of Chinese philosophy who need to sort out the context of the ming–shi category
- Beginning readers interested in the name-disputation trend of thought, ancient logic, and epistemology
- Self-learners who wish to use short materials to build a framework of ancient philosophical concepts
Not a good fit for
- Researchers expecting detailed textual scholarship and source compilations on each school and thinker
- Readers who only want entertaining philosophical stories and do not care about conceptual evolution
- Readers who need a systematic textbook of modern and contemporary logic
Reading tips
- First remember the basic definition that ming refers to concepts and shi to existence, then read the different understandings of various thinkers.
- While reading, draw a simple table listing what different views emphasize in the name–actuality relationship for easier comparison.
- Read alongside the relevant chapters of a history of Chinese philosophy textbook, placing this piece on the timeline of intellectual history.
- After reading, ask yourself: why could the debate over name and actuality advance logic and epistemology? Write down your understanding in a few sentences.
About the publisher
Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 名实第十
FAQ
What do ming and shi refer to respectively?
Why is the name-disputation trend of thought important?
Do I need prior philosophical grounding to read this piece?
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About the author
Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.
