ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concepts of Chinese philosophy, and identifies the different Chinese original philosophical concepts. It establishes a qualitative base for understanding and interpreting finance from both the Chinese and the western perspectives. There are different philosophical schools of thought throughout Chinese history and it is appropriate to divide Chinese philosophy into two eras. The first is that of the Chinese Classics, which begins with Confucius and lasts until about 100 BC, and the second is the Classical Period, which ran from circa 100 BC to recent times. The concepts and categories of classical Chinese philosophy cover a very broad spectrum and the ancient Chinese philosophical tenets have both a definite and an indefinite nature. The chapter explains the fundamental Chinese belief in nature as well as their objection to unnatural manipulation. It establishes the connection between Chinese traditional philosophy and finance in order to set the moral principles and values for understanding and practising finance.
