"Misfortunes of a nation may turn out to be fortunes of a philosopher," noted Qian Mu, a renowned expert in Chinese cultural studies.
国学大师钱穆曾说过：“民族的不幸是哲人的财富”
The sentence vividly summarizes ancient Chinese philosophers and their work, with Chinese history providing verification through the passage of time. In the majestic periods of Chinese history like the Han (206BC-220AD) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, major achievements in the humanities occurred in the field of literature, but at times of social unrest, philosophical accomplishments were even more prominent.
这句话在中国哲学史上得到了很好的印证：国富民强的汉唐时代，古代文学熠熠生辉，而在动荡不安的年代，我们民族却在哲学上取得了很高的成就。
Ancient Chinese philosophers were born out of sorcery. After a series of incidents, ancient belief systems in destiny were gradually shaken and finally collapsed. The symbolic events that indicated the birth of Chinese philosophy were all developed by historiographers and senior officials in the government of the Zhou Dynasty (about 11th Century-221BC) helping to explain natural and social phenomena. The old-type sorcerers, who were most used to providing theological explanations, discarded their most familiar habits of resorting to augury, and emerged anew as philosophers, trying to give logical explanations by employing reason. Chinese philosophy, as a new form of culture, was born.
中国古代哲学家们起初多信奉巫术。后来，随着历史的变迁，先前的信仰体系逐渐“礼崩乐坏”。中国哲学的起源，可以追溯到周朝统治阶层中负责解释自然、社会现象的史料编纂者和官员们。他们放弃了早先以占卜来诠释万事万物的习惯，开始试图寻求理性、逻辑的解释途径。中国哲学作为一种全新的文化形式，由此诞生了。