Time: Tue 26 May 2026, at 15:10

Place: Art Hall, South Annex Building of the Library

Speaker: ZHENG Kai, Peking University

Language: Chinese

This event is part of the Seminar Series on Chinese traditional philosophy and thought.

Abstract:

The scope of Chinese philosophy encompasses not only the “world of thought,” but also broader horizons, wider contexts, and deeper realms beyond it—such as wisdom in practice, spiritual philosophy, and the metaphysics of spiritual realms. Ancient Chinese philosophers held that the truly meaningful philosophical questions concern how one may transcend the mere “world of thought” and advance toward a higher “spiritual realm”; how “thought” may be transformed into “practice”; how one may “transform one’s temperament and disposition”; and how an ordinary person may be elevated into a sage. The so-called “world of thought” is constructed through names and language, whereas “spiritual realms” and “wisdom in practice” transcend verbal expression and sensory images, enabling one to grasp the meaning while forgetting the form.

        中国哲学的论域范围包括“思想世界”以及“思想世界”之外的更开阔的视野、更广大的语境、更深邃的意境，比如说实践智慧、精神哲学和境界形而上学。古代哲人认为，真正有意义的哲学问题就是，如何超出“思想世界”进阶到“精神境界”、如何化“思想”为“实践”、如何“变化气质”、如何从凡夫升华为圣贤？所谓“思想世界”诉诸名言建构起来的，而“精神境界”“实践智慧”则超言绝象、得意忘象。