China Social Science Review

No.1, 2024

A Review of Three Turns of Methodology in the History of Chinese Philosophy: Centered on the General History of Chinese Philosophy

(Abstract)

Chai Wenhua

The predecessor of the methodology of the history of Chinese philosophy is the interpretation method of the studies of Confucian classics, which is embedded in the traditional Chinese academic history. In the process of the transformation of modern Chinese academics, this method was replaced by “interpreting China with Western methods,” and this replacement completed the first turn of the methodology of the history of Chinese philosophy; With the spread and Sinicization of Marxist philosophy, “interpreting China with Marxism” became the mainstream, and this was the second important turn; On the basis of reflecting on dogmatism, formalism, and the overuse of frame theories, the writing of the history of Chinese philosophy has seen a diversified tendency, one that moves from “writing according to others” to “writing the self,” and thus the third methodological turn has begun. The present and future writing of the history of Chinese philosophy should follow such methodological principles as the combination of modern perspectives and canonical texts, and the coherence of particularity and universality.