Essentials in the understanding of the development of pre-Qin philosophy. The Mingjia (名家, School of Names) is a notional grouping of philosophers first recorded as such in the Shiji. Their identifying feature was a concern with linguistic issues particularly involving the correct use of names. The group, as listed in the Han Shu, comprised seven men living between the sixth and third centuries BCE. Only four of these men— Deng Xi, Yin Wen, Hui Shi, and Gongsun Long— have extant writings attributed to them, and in three of these there are issues of authenticity. Nevertheless, it is an important group for an understanding of the development of pre-Qin philosophy as the men themselves and the concepts they explored feature prominently in the writings of the other schools. The present volume contains four parts: (i) the extant writings of the four men; (ii) all significant references to them in other works up the fourth century CE; (iii) other significant writings on the topics up to th
