Gongsun Long (Traditional Chinese: 公孫龍; Simplified Chinese: 公孙龙; Hanyu Pinyin: Gōngsūn Lóng; Wade-Giles: Kung-sun Lung, ca. 325–250 BC^[1][2]) was a member of the Logicians school of ancient Chinese philosophy. He also ran a school and enjoyed the support of rulers, and supported peaceful means of resolving disputes in contrast to the wars which were common in the period (the so-called Warring States Period). However, little is known about the particulars of his life, and furthermore many of his writings have been lost.^[3] All of his essays, fourteen originally but only six still extant, are included in the book Gongsun Longzi (公孫龍子). Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC - 320s BC - 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 330 BC 329 BC 328 BC 327 BC 326 BC - 325 BC - 324 BC 323 BC 322... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC Years: 255 BC 254 BC 253 BC 252 BC 251 BC - 250 BC - 249 BC 248 BC... For logicians with a lower-case l, see list of logicians. ... Yin Yang symbol and Ba gua paved in a clearing outside of Nanning City, Guangxi province, China. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

He is best known for a series of paradoxes in the tradition of Hui Shi. His most famous work is White Horse Dialogue, structured as conversation between two parties, with one party proclaiming truth in the statement and the other questioning. The argument plays upon the dual semantic meanings of informal language, in particular the dual interpretations of 'is', being either: Look up paradox in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hui Shi (惠施 Also Hui Shih) (4th century B.C.) Documents of the teachings of Hui Shi are only preserved in the Zhuangzi Chuang Chou. ... The White Horse Dialogue (T:白馬論 P:Baima Lun) is a philosophical concept first put forward by Logician Gongsun Longzi, playing on the semantics between the objects themselves and the ideas they represent. ...

1. "Is a member of the class entitled (x)"
2. "Is identical to concept (x)"

Thus a white horse is not a horse, because the concept of a white horse is not the same as the concept of a horse.

Two other paradoxes attributed to him are:

• Only the features of things can be pointed out (named), and yet the world (and other wholes) can be named even though the world (or a whole thing) is not itself a feature of anything.
• One and one cannot become two, since neither becomes two.^[4]

White Horse Dialogue

The White Horse Dialogue(白馬論, Báimǎ Lùn) can be read as a series of logical puzzles or paradoxes. For example, the treatise gets its name from the paradox "A white horse is not a horse", which Gongsun presents therein. The work has been viewed by some as a serious logical discourse, by others as a facetious work of sophistry, and finally by some as a combination of the two.^[5] Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. ...

Other works

• 指物論 (Zhǐwù Lùn)
• 通變論 (Tōngbiàn Lùn)
• 堅白論 (Jiānbái Lùn)
• 名實論 (Míngshí Lùn)
• 跡府 (Jifǔ) "Storehouse of Traces"

Notes

1. ^ Zhou, Yunzhi, "Gongsun Long". Encyclopedia of China (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
2. ^ Liu 2004, p. 336
3. ^ McGreal 1995, p. 31
4. ^ McGreal 1995, p. 33
5. ^ Harbsmeier, Christoph (1989). "Humor in Ancient Chinese Philosophy". Philosophy East and West 39 (3). 

The Encyclopedia of China (Chinese: ) is the first large-scale encyclopedia in the Chinese language in the modern era. ...

References

• Liu, Jianguo (2004). Distinguishing and Correcting the pre-Qin Forged Classics. Xi'an: Shaanxi People's Press. ISBN 7-224-05725-8.
• McGreal, Ian P (1995). "Gongun Long" in Great Thinkers of the Eastern World. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0062700858.
• Zhou, Yunzhi, "Gongsun Long". Encyclopedia of China (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.

The Encyclopedia of China (Chinese: ) is the first large-scale encyclopedia in the Chinese language in the modern era. ...

External links

• Works by Gongsun Longzi at Project Gutenberg (In Chinese)
• Full text of Gongsun Longzi