TheMingjia(SchoolofNames)isanotionalgroupingofphilosophersfirstrecordedassuchintheShiji.Theiridentifyingfeaturewasaconcernwithlinguisticissuesparticularlyinvolvingthecorrectuseofnames.TheoriginofthisconcernistakentobeLunyuXIII.3.Thegroup,aslistedintheHanShu,comprisedsevenmenlivingbetweenthesixthandthirdcenturiesBC.Onlyfourofthesemenhaveextantwritingsattributedtothem(DengXi,YinWen,HuiShiandGongsunLong)andinthreeofthesethereareissuesofauthenticity.Nevertheless,itisanimportantgroupforanunderstandingofthedevelopmentofpre-Qinphilosophyasthementhemselvesandtheconceptstheyexploredfeatureprominentlyinthewritingsoftheotherschools.
Thepresentworkcontainsfoursections:(i)theextantwritingsofthefourmen;(ii)allsignificantreferencestotheminotherworksuptothefourthcenturyAD;(iii)othersignificantwritingonthetopicsuptothattime;and(iv)fourappendicesonspecificissuesconcerningtheschool.
