Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Chef Ding

The Chinese influence on the material and spiritual life of the modern world is becoming increasingly tangible, yet residents of other countries still know almost nothing about China and its culture. Based on this undeniable fact, Cambridge sinologist Rul Sterks offers all of us living outside the ecumene of the Celestial Empire a concise but thorough overview of the history of Chinese thought: political, social, philosophical, religious, ecological, and more. He masterfully commands his material, painting a comprehensive and, importantly, vibrant picture of the worldview of the Chinese. Sterks' beautifully written work allows us to understand what it means to perceive the world the Chinese way and to live in it the Chinese way. In 2020, the author became a laureate of the annual British Hessel-Tiltman Prize awarded for the best popular science book on history published in English.