Formation of Traditional Academic Features

The Han Dynasty was an important stage in China’s academic history, in which not only many brilliant academic achievements emerged but also three main features of traditional Chinese academics took form. The first feature was the comprehensiveness due to the unity of dao (or the law of the universe) and qi (or things). Namely, all traditional Chinese academics had the trait of encyclopaedia. The second feature was political-function-centered humanistic pragmatism. Politics was a very important part of human life and was certainly a vital part of traditional Chinese academics. However, it was the Han scholars who placed the most value on the political function of all studies. The third feature was continuity through interpretation. Traditional Chinese academics continued for thousands of years partly due to the interpretation of classic books. Han scholars initiated “xungu” or Chinese hermeneutics to interpret Confucian Classics. These interpretations not only preserved the original classic texts but also provided the standard meaning of the classic texts and allowed the classics to survive history by meeting the needs of the new times.