My name in Chinese is 董萍, however, I put it as 董平 when I published my first papers in the Academic Monthly (Shanghai) and the Philosophical Researches (Beijing) in 1986.

     On September 4, 1959, I was born in Qu County, Zhejiang Province, China. After graduated from high school in 1975, I worded in different units as a part-time worker for three years. In 1978, when China recovered its enrollment of students for universities, I entered the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Hangzhou University, as an undergraduate student. This university was merged into Zhejiang University in 1997. In 1983, I was enrolled as a graduate student by the Institute for Chinese Ancient Books, Hangzhou University, became one of the first 6 students of this Institute. With my MA degree, I entered the Institute of Philosophy, Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences in 1986, began my career of Chinese philosophy researches. In 1998, I entered the Department of Philosophy, Fudan University, Shanghai, to read for PhD, and acquired the degree in 2001. During my stay in Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, I once acted as the director of the Institute of Philosophy from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, I shifted my work place to the Department of Philosophy, Zhejiang University. During the period of 2006--2013, I was the director of the Department. Presently, I am the Director of the Institute of Chinese Intellectual Cultures, and the Director of the Center for Buddhist Culture Researches. Sure enough, these institutes are belonging to the Zhejiang University.

        During the past decades, I had different experiences of study abroad. In 1994--1995, I studied in the Center for Advanced Studies in Sanskrit, University of Poona, India, where I read a lot on Upanishads and vedanta works. In 2006, I stayed at the Harvard-Yenching Institute as an advanced visiting scholar for three months. Then, I visited the Indiana University of the US, the Gent University of Belgium, and universities in France, Canada, Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.

        Different educational backgrounds and academic experiences have cultivated my wide range of academic interests. My research works fall into these five realms:

        Firstly, the philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism in the Pre-Qin Dynasty. It is well known that different dimensions of Chinese culture were founded in the time of pre-Qin Dynasty. Despite of the flourishing of different schools, Confucianism and Daoism were the most important since some of the essential and fundamental questions in Chinese philosophy were modeled by these two schools. My researches on these two schools embodied mainly in the books of Essays on Confucianism in Pre-Qin Dynasty (2016) and An Intensive Reading of Lao Zi (2015).

        Secondly, Neo-Confucianism in the Song-Ming Dynasties. If we take Confucianism as the mainstream form of Chinese culture, the appearance of the movement of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty is in fact the most meaningful turning point in the historical development of Chinese culture. A number of essays and monographs have been published on this aspect represent my ideas and suggestions, in spite of the fact that I have been focusing the interpretation of Wang Yangming's philosophy.

       Thirdly, Zhedong Xuepai (浙东学派) or the School of Eastern Zhejiang. Emerged in the thriving atmosphere of Neo-Confucianism, the School of Eastern Zhejiang differs from the philosophies of Zhu Xi (朱熹) and Lu Jiuyuan (陆九渊) with its stress on historical studies. Based on my own studies, I persist on the idea that this Eastern Zhejiang School represented by Lv Zuqian (吕祖谦) is as a matter of fact a school of historical philosophy, together with the schools of Zh Xi and Lu Jiuyuan formulated the three main forms of Neo-Confucianism. My study results can be seen in the book named An Intellectual and Academic History of Zhejiang: From Wang Chong (王充) to Wang Guowei (王国维)(2005) and other relative essays.

        Fourthly, Chinese Buddhist philosophy. The introduction of Buddhism from India into China in the first century is a great event in the history of Chinese culture. It has presented an example of cross-cultural communication in the world history. For Chinese native culture, Buddhism has always been a "meaningful other" because of its involvement into the development of Chinese philosophy. The important role of Buddhism in the construction of Chinese culture as a whole cannot be neglected by all means. If we do not take the widespread and profound influences of Buddhism into consideration, all interpretations or understandings about the rise of Neo-Confucianism are not relevant even weak and feeble. This idea can explain why I should pay my attention to the study of Buddhism. My research on Buddhism resulted in the book of A Study on Buddhist Tian-tai School (2002) and other essays.

        Fifthly, textual criticism or collation of Chinese classical books. I graduated from the Institute of Ancient Books of Hangzhou University with MA degree in 1986. To attach great importance to the reading and collation of ancient books was strongly stressed by Mr. Jiang Liangfu (姜亮夫), who was the director of the Institute and our students' advisor. With a grand academic horizon, Mr. Jiang's academics were not exclusive to one side and achieved in different spheres, but all his methodology was based on philology, phonology, words exegetics and textual collation, the so-called in Chinese "primary studies"(小学). Although I turned my main strength to the studies of Chinese philosophy, Mr. Jiang's teachings do not dare to forget, that is the reason why I have been engaged in the "trifle" jobs of ancient books collations. I published the Full Collection of Wang Yangming (王阳明全集，co-worked with others, 1992), The Collection of Zou Shouyi (邹守益集, 2007), Complete Collection of Yang Jian (杨简全集，2015) and many other works of collation.

       In addition of the above, I also engaged in some translation work, but mainly in the translation of Indian philosophy.

       Academic research is a process without end. Zhang Xuecheng (章学诚) who lived in the Qing Dynasty once said that a student must have an "ism", but cannot have a bias. What he advocated that a student has "to distinguish clearly the different academics and to identify its original source and its development" is my own "ism". I take it as self encouragement.