Zhao Tingyang (born 1961 in Guangdong, China) is a political philosopher credited with modernising the ancient Chinese concept of Tianxia. He argues that the concept of a new Tianxia or all-under-heaven can offer an alternative blueprint for creating a more peaceful and inclusive world.

Biography

Zhao Tingyang graduated from Renmin University of China and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and is now a professor in the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and is a senior fellow of Peking University Berggruen Research Institute. He was also a Pusey Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard–Yenching Institute in 2013. His works are mainly on metaphilosophy, ethics and political philosophy. In 2005, he published The Tianxia System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World Institution. His book Investigations of the Bad World: Political Philosophy as First Philosophy was published in 2009. According to Zhao's reconstruction of the tianxia system, tianxia presupposed "inclusion of all" and implied acceptance of the world's diversities, emphasizing harmonious reciprocal dependence and ruled by virtue as a means for lasting peace.

Books

Selected academic articles