Syncretism (Chinese philosophy)


Syncretism or the Mixed School in Chinese philosophy was an eclectic school of thought that combined elements of Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Its texts include the Shizi, Lüshi Chunqiu, and Huainanzi.
Liu Xin says in the Book of Han:
As it is known today, the Shizi does contain much Confucian material.
As used by the Confucians for the Lüshi Chunqiu and Huainanzi, the term sorts texts that could otherwise be interpreted in relation to a concept by Sima Tan of syncrectic political Daoism, or Daojia in the Shiji. That is, the category splits off texts with notable quantities of content that could be called "Daoist". Their two texts can be understood as seeking to comprehensively incorporate or syncretize "all" knowledge of their time, a defining feature held in common with the Daoistic, encyclopedic Shiji.