An unexamined life is not worth living.
——Socrates

The purpose of studying philosophy is to enable individuals to become human beings, not to become a certain kind of person. Other forms of learning enable individuals to become someone with a certain profession.
——Feng Youlan

★ A History Series for the General Reader—Devour Humanity’s Glorious Culture in One Sitting!
History + Literature + Philosophy, Spanning Ancient to Modern Times

★ 365 Days of Discovery—Grow Your Knowledge Effortlessly!
- Detailed Annotations & Analysis for barrier-free reading
- Systematically organized contents with clear primary and a wealth of knowledge.
- Concised length: each piece takes just 2-3 minutes to complete.

★ A Philosophy Primer for the General Reader—Unlocking the Essence of 100+ Eastern and Western Philosophical Masters!
From China’s Hundred Schools of Thought, Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi & Cheng Yi to Wang Yangming’s Philosophy of Mind
From Socrates, Plato to Kant, Marx

★ To Study Philosophy Is to Decipher the Wisdom of Others’ Lives—and Forge Your Own Path to Growth.

The "365-Day Casual Reading Series" includes 3 volumes:
"365 Days of History"
"365 Days of Literature"
"365 Days of Philosophy"

Philosophy is far closer to us than we realize—it permeates every life, encountered and applied daily, whether consciously or not. It is the essential discipline for preventing "life's derailments." Understanding philosophical principles brings tangible benefits and enlightenment to our existence.

This book serves as an accessible introduction to Eastern and Western philosophy for beginners, comprehensively covering nearly all seminal philosophical theories in clear, approachable language. It explores western thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Hume, and Spinoza, as well as chinese sages including Laozi, Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, and Dong Zhongshu. By examining these philosophers’ lives and core ideas, readers will grasp their masterworks with deeper insight, engage in a "face-to-face dialogue" with history’s greatest minds and draw tailored wisdom for modern challenges.

365 day Classic Reading Editorial Board

Its members are composed of scholars and researchers from numerous universities and academic institutions in China. Each member of the editorial board has a profound background in history and literature, as well as a rigorous and responsible work attitude. They have participated in the editing of similar books multiple times and have rich experience. The publication of "Reading Classics" has received high praise from numerous readers.

Chinese Philosophy
The Wisdom of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements
The Mystery of the Eight Trigrams
Book of Changes (Two Excerpts)
The Statesman Who Instituted Rituals and Music
The Moral Cultivation of a Great Sage
Principles That Must Be Followed
The Life Philosophy in Laozi
Laozi (One Excerpt)
The Teacher of All Ages Who Conquered with Virtue
Analects of Confucius (Two Excerpts)
Filial Piety and Righteousness Under Heaven
The Survival Wisdom in The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean
The Great Learning (One Excerpt)
What Distinguishes Humans from Beasts
Benevolent Governance as the True Safeguard
Mencius (One Excerpt)
The Philosophical Reflections of the "Commoner’s Sage"
Saving the World Through Universal Love
Mozi (Two Excerpts)
A Life That Transcends Poverty
The Butcher Ding’s Mastery
A Scholar of Unparalleled Erudition
"A White Horse Is Not a Horse, a Sick Man Is Not a Man"
Facts Speak Louder Than Rhetoric
The Theory of the Five Virtues’ Cycles and the Mingtang System
Anyone Can Become a Sage
An Exhortation to Learning (Excerpt)
"Punishing Offenses Without Sparing Ministers"
The Wine Seller of Song
The Huang-Lao School During Qin and Han
Heaven Too Has Its Way
A Confucian’s Confession
Three Strategies for Heaven and Man (Excerpt)
A Mind Set on the World
Huainanzi (Two Excerpts)
The Master of Imitation
Truth Is Established Through Debate
Did Gods Create Humans, or Humans Create Gods?
All Things Both Exist and Do Not Exist
A Genius Who Bridged Heaven and Man
Unrestrained Freedom as Naturalness
Seeing Off a Scholar to Join the Army (No. 2)
Those Who Possess Freedom
Reflections (Excerpt)
Guo Xiang: The Eloquent Philosopher
The Elixir of Immortality Hidden in Alchemy
Legends of the Gods
"The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea, Each Showing Divine Powers"
The Development of Buddhism
A Tripartite Division in Intellectual History
"Life Is Like a Tree in Bloom"
On the Annihilation of the Soul (Excerpt)
Pluralism and Openness
"Three Thousand Natures Contained in a Single Thought"
Xuanzang’s Journey West for Buddhist Scriptures
"Gaining the Robe Through Nonsensical Words"
Purity Lies in Cultivating the Mind
"Seeing One’s Nature to Become a Buddha"
Han Yu’s Memorial Against the Buddha’s Bone
On Teachers (Excerpt)
Liu Zongyuan’s Synthesis of Confucianism and Buddhism
Record of the Little Stone Pond (Excerpt)
The Era of Neo-Confucianism
"Worry Before the World Worries"
"Emerging Unstained from the Mud"
On the Love of Lotuses
"All Things Are My Friends"
The Cheng Brothers’ Philosophy of Heavenly Principle
"A Sage Should Govern with the Dao-Mind"
Selected Poems of Zhu Xi (Two Poems)
"The Universe Is My Mind, My Mind Is the Universe"
"The Way of Sages Is Complete Within My Nature"
"I Urge the Lord of Heaven to Shake Off Complacency"
"Every Common Man Bears Responsibility for the Nation’s Fate"
Daily Knowledge (Excerpt)
Perfect Governance
Record of the Sick Plum Pavilion (Excerpt)
"Opening One’s Eyes to the World"

Western Philosophy
The Origins of Love for Wisdom
The Epiphany of the Sophists
"Harmony Is Everything"
"The Soul Ought to Stay Dry"
On Nature (Excerpt)
"All Is One and Unchanging"
Parmenides’ Fragments
"Make Life Joyful"
"The Mind Is the Cause of Things"
The Midwife of the Soul
"Those Who Don’t Study Philosophy Only See Shadows"
The "Good" Political System
The Republic (Excerpt)
The Culmination of Greek Philosophy
"Human Nature Lies in the Pursuit of Knowledge"
The Garden Philosopher
Eudaimonia or Hedonism?
On Happiness (Excerpt)
Zeno’s Paradoxes
The Philosopher-King
Meditations (Excerpt)
"All Existence Can Be Doubted"
The Purpose of Life
The Development of Jewish Religion
The Dawn of Christianity
Genesis (Excerpt)
The Church Fathers of Catholic Philosophy
Confessions (Excerpt)
A Forgotten Era
The Monastic Movement
The True Founder of the Papal States
"Matter Too Can Think"
"Faith Seeking Understanding"
On the Existence of God (Excerpt)
Islamic Culture and Its Philosophy
The Culmination of Islamic Philosophy
"Reform Boldly with the Times"
"God Is Perfection"
Summa Theologica (Excerpt)
The Decline of the Papacy
"Property Is the Fruit of Sin"
The Italian Renaissance
"A Prince Must Be as Cunning as a Fox"
The Prince (Excerpt)
"True Faith Is a Kind of Folly"
"Even the Lowest Slave Can Be Free"
"Knowledge Is Power"
Essays (Excerpt)
"The War of All Against All"
The Masked Philosopher
Principles of Philosophy (Excerpt)
The Philosopher Surrounded by Infamy
"One’s World Can Be Equally Splendid Alone"
Two Treatises of Government (Excerpt)
"No Two Leaves Are Exactly Alike"
"The Empire’s Path Leads Westward"
"Belief Is Not a Rational Thing"
A Treatise of Human Nature (Excerpt)
Political Virtue
The Spirit of the Laws (Excerpt)
"The Value of Life Is Self-Determined"
The Social Contract (Excerpt)
"Honesty Is the Basis of Wisdom"
The Principle of the Greatest Happiness
The Spiritual Life of the 19th Century
"What Is Rational Is Real"
"So-Called Time Is Merely an Illusion"
"The State Is a Rational Entity"
"Humans Can Comprehend the Objective World"
The Essence of Religion (Excerpt)
"The Ideal Society Should Have No War"
"For the Happiness of the Majority"
"Pessimism Is a Useful Antidote"
The Suffering and Vanity of Existence (Excerpt)
"God’s Ways Are Higher Than Man’s Ways"
"Philosophizing with a Hammer"
Nietzsche’s Daydream
What We Lack (Excerpt)
Why Marx Was Right

People who don't understand philosophy can only see shadows
The triangles drawn on the sand can be erased, but the concept of triangles remains unrestricted by time and space—— Plato
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was born into a noble family, and his mother was a descendant of the Athenian legislator Solon. His original surname was Aristocles, and due to his strong body and wide chest and shoulders since childhood, he took the name "Plato". In Greek, "Plato" means "broad".
Plato studied under Socrates in his youth. At first, he intended to inherit the family tradition and enter politics, but later the situation changed: in the war with Sparta, Athenian democracy was defeated, and Socrates was immediately tried and sentenced to death. Plato was completely disappointed with the existing political system and began to travel around Italy, Sicily, Egypt, Cilicia, and other places in search of knowledge, attempting to realize his aristocratic political ideals.
At the age of 40, he returned from his travels to Athens and founded a school called the Akademus Academy in the holy city of Akademus, located in the northwest outskirts of Athens. It is said that Plato attached great importance to mathematics and erected a monument at the entrance of the academy: "Those who do not understand geometry are not allowed to enter." As a result, the academy nurtured many intellectuals, among whom Aristotle was outstanding.
As the founder of Western objective idealism, Plato's philosophical system is profound and extensive. The main theories can be summarized into the following parts: firstly, utopia, which appeared early in his work "The Republic"; The second is the theory of ideas, which is used to solve various problems; The third is the theory of immortality of the soul; The fourth is the theory of the origin of the universe; Five is his view of knowledge.
From this, it can be seen that Plato drew the idea of eternity and immutability from the teachings of Parmenides, and later learned from Heraclitus that nothing in the world is immutable. He combined these two ideas and came to his own conclusion: knowledge comes from reason, not from the senses.

In Plato's Republic, there is a famous cave metaphor to explain the theory of ideas:
There is a group of prisoners in a cave, their hands and feet bound, and their bodies unable to turn around, they can only turn their backs to the entrance of the cave. There was a white wall in front of them and a pile of fire burning behind them. On the white wall, they saw the shadows of themselves and the things behind them to the bonfire. Since they couldn't see anything else, this group of prisoners would think that the shadows were real things.
Later, a person broke free from the shackles and groped out the hole. He saw the real thing for the first time.
He returned to the cave and tried to explain to others that those shadows were actually illusory things, and pointed them to the path of light. But for those prisoners, that person seemed even more foolish than before he escaped, and declared to him that there was nothing else in the world except for the shadow on the wall.
This story tells people that "form" is actually the physical object illuminated by sunlight, and what people's sensory world can feel is only the shadow on the white wall. Compared to the distinct rational world, nature is dark and monotonous. Those who do not understand philosophy can only see shadows, while philosophers see external things under the sunshine of truth.
On the other hand, Plato compared the sun to justice and truth, emphasizing that the sunlight people see is only the "form" of the sun, not its essence; Just like true philosophical principles and justice, they can only be seen in their external manifestations, and their essence cannot be described.
Plato, who was quick witted and extensively researched, taught at the Akademus Academy for 40 years until his death. He wrote extensively throughout his life, including dialogic works such as "The Republic," "Socrates' Apology", "Parmenides," and "The Wise".

A "good" political system
The Republic is one of Plato's important dialogic works, which consists of three parts. In some parts, he mentioned an ideal country, which was the early utopia; The second part discusses the definition of a philosopher, as he believes that rulers must be philosophers; The third part mainly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various systems. Here he first assumes that there is such a beautiful country, and then discusses which beauty in it belongs to justice.
Plato outlined the general outline of utopia in "The Republic".
He believes that there should be three types of people in this ideal country: ordinary citizens, soldiers, and defenders of the country. The number of defenders is much smaller than the other two, but only they have political power. Children who are particularly outstanding among the other two types of people can be promoted, while those who are very poor in defending the country can be demoted.
Plato mainly discussed the class of monarchs, considering how to make them better serve the country from various aspects such as education, economy, and religion. He has put forward many suggestions in any aspect.
One aspect is education. Plato believed that education is primarily about cultivating human qualities, which require both bravery and courtesy. The music and books that young people are allowed to access are strictly selected, and even when telling stories to children, they can only tell official stories.
In terms of economy, Plato advocated the implementation of communism, where each defender only had a small house and simple food, and no other personal property. There is no distinction between rich and poor among people. All of this is for the benefit of all the people in the Republic, not for any particular class. Even Plato believed that communism should be achieved among friends, including wives and children. He believes that men and women are equal, and girls should receive the same education and be equally capable of becoming excellent defenders and warriors.
In terms of theology, the myths created by the government of the Republic are all intended to deceive citizens. Plato once said that lying is the privilege of the government. For example, they use the superstitious method of drawing lots to arrange marriages and deceive citizens. Plato hoped that there would be some myths that could deceive and deceive everyone, including rulers and ruled.
These ideas later influenced philosophy, giving rise to debates about the constancy of all things and the immutability of nothingness. This is the root of justice in Plato's writings. It can be seen that such a country is rigid and lifeless. It will win in the battle of city states, but will not achieve success in science and art.
In the Republic, Plato embodies the ideals of the Creator. What is "ideal"? It is different from the desire for food and drink, and has nothing to do with the individual or the current situation. It can be said that an ideal is a theoretical desire that is unrelated to the current situation, and this desire is not personal, but rather a desire that everyone shares. For example, everyone has food to eat, everyone is friendly to others, and so on.
Everyone's ideas are different, and differences can lead to conflicts. Resolving this contradiction can be decided by individuals based on their emotions; Serious cases will be resolved by launching a war. Scientific matters can be expressed through facts, but ethical matters are impossible and can only be transformed into primitive debates.
Plato believed that he could prove that the state was good, but some democrats believed that the state was bad, while others believed that if you think it is good, it is good, and if you think it is bad, it is bad. But at that time, everyone believed in Plato's viewpoint. People often tend to replace truth with a unified standard, but unfortunately this is incorrect.
Aristotle believed that Plato's Republic was terrible. He opposed Plato's proposal to abolish the family and live a collectivist life together. Plato believed that if children do not know who their parents are, they will treat anyone like they treat their parents, and vice versa. Aristotle believed that common love is common neglect, which is good for everyone, but in fact, it is bad for everyone.
Plato's Republic is not just a fantasy as commonly believed today, many of its rules and regulations have been validated by Sparta. At that time, the colonies were very free, and it was completely feasible for Plato and his followers to establish an ideal country in the coastal areas of Spain. Unfortunately, he did not do so, which ultimately made this political experiment completely impossible.