The book is a systematic inquiry into how Chinese philosophers understood signs during the Pre-Imperial Age, which is better known among the Chinese as the Pre-Qin period. Described by Karl Jaspers as the Axial Age, it is the most important period in the development of Chinese philosophy. It is in this period that Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, as well as other distinguished scholars, emerged and made their voices heard. This boom in Chinese...