Yao Yong is a native of Mingguang, Anhui Province. He received his B.A. in Philosophy from Lanzhou University in 2013, his M.A. in Chinese Philosophy from Nanjing University in 2017, and his Ph.D. in Chinese Philosophy from Fudan University in 2023. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities, Central South University, and a council member of the Hunan Confucius Society.

His research focuses on Chinese philosophy, especially pre-Qin Confucian political philosophy, the interpretation of early Confucian classics, and Zhu Xi’s moral philosophy. Methodologically, his work combines close textual reading, conceptual analysis, and normative argumentation. His research addresses such issues as the moral foundations of political authority, political education, the normative status of min 民, Confucian theories of moral action, and the Confucian philosophy of emotions. His articles have been published in CSSCI-indexed journals, including Morality and Civilization, Journal of Lanzhou University (Social Sciences), Journal of Anhui University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), and Journal of Nanchang University (Humanities and Social Sciences).

His current research is gradually moving from studies of individual texts and thinkers toward a normatively oriented approach to Chinese philosophy centered on core political and ethical concepts. On the one hand, he examines the conceptual meaning, political function, and normative status of min 民 in the political thought of Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi. On the other hand, he traces Confucian discourses on yiduan 异端, the construction of the Confucian daotong 道统, and the interpretive genealogy of the Confucian classics. In connection with theories of moral cultivation and the philosophy of emotions, he also analyzes the motivational mechanisms of Confucian moral action.

1. September 2017 – June 2023

     Ph.D. in Chinese Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Fudan University.

2. September 2014 – June 2017

     M.A. in Chinese Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Nanjing University.

3. September 2009 – June 2013

     B.A. in Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Sociology, Lanzhou University.

1. Pre-Qin Confucian Political Philosophy

     The moral foundations of political authority, political education, and the normative status of min 民.

2. Confucian Philosophy of Emotions

     The status, mechanisms, and functions of emotions such as anger in moral action and political order.

3. Confucian Discourses on Heterodoxy

     Orthodoxy consciousness, the construction of the Confucian daotong 道统, and critiques of yiduan 异端 in Confucian classical texts.

1. Principal Investigator: Youth Project of the Hunan Provincial Social Science Fund, “A Study of the Concept of ‘Anger’ in Pre-Qin Philosophical Texts” (25YBQ020).

I. Pre-Qin Confucian Political Philosophy

1. Yao Yong. “Mencius on the Moral Foundations of Political Power: A Theoretical Perspective of the Dichotomy of Legitimacy and Justification.” Journal of Lanzhou University (Social Sciences), no. 5, 2024, pp. 88–97. CSSCI-indexed.

2. Yao Yong. “Distinction between Heaven and Men and Differences in Their Functions: A New Interpretation of ‘The Officials Observe Heaven and the Sage Himself Observes the Way’ in ‘On Heaven’ of Xunzi.” Journal of Anhui University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), no. 3, 2020, pp. 33–40. CSSCI-indexed.

II. Confucian Philosophy of Emotions

1. Yao Yong. “The Ethical Implications of Zhu Xi’s Interpretation of ‘Not Transferring Anger’.” Morality and Civilization, no. 2, 2024, pp. 102–109. CSSCI-indexed.

III. Zhu Xi’s Moral Philosophy

1. Yao Yong. “‘Integrated’ or ‘Separated’ Cultivating Activities: The Twists and Turns of Zhu Xi's Interpretation of ‘Keji Fuli’.” Wuda Philosophical Review, no. 2, 2023, pp. 1–15. CSSCI-indexed.

2. Yao Yong. “Zhu Xi’s View on the Relationship between ‘Keji Fuli’ and ‘Zhu Jing Xing Shu’: An Interpretation Based on the Motivation for Moral Action.” Journal of Nanchang University (Humanities and Social Sciences), no. 3, 2021, pp. 13–22. CSSCI-indexed.

IV. Confucian Discourses on Heterodoxy

I. Undergraduate Courses

1. Readings in Pre-Qin Confucian and Mohist Political Philosophy

2. Readings in the Xunzi

II. Graduate Courses