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The "History of Philosophy Without any Gaps" podcast (https://historyofphilosophy.net/) has for a while been alternating between weeks of Western and non-Western philosophy (which it does in a bit less detail, but still pretty in-depth). It's so far finished a series each on Indian and Africana philosophy and is currently starting on Ancient Chinese philosophy.
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For those interested in Chinese philosophy, I'd suggest 韩非子 (Han Feizi), which offers a thoughtful meta-analysis of earlier philosophers like Laozi and contemporaries such as Xunzi, in so far as their thoughts applied to statecraft. (The first Emperor was a big fan of the work.). Note: Avoid the Burton Watson translation.
This recommendation assumes some basic knowledge of Chinese history.
For those new to the subject, [Recommendation to come, I am trying to find the English version for a children's book to Chinese Philosophy and History] might be a better starting point. -> No translation found. Will update if I run into anything better.
My recommendations are based on several key considerations:
- Quality of available translations
- Relevance to Western readers
- Focus on state-building as both an entry point and a way to understand how philosophy shaped Chinese governance
- Historical impact on actual governance
Chinese statebuilding is a very relevant lens because how early the Chinese started to concentrate executive power. The legalist school makes sense because the state was able to codify law staffed with court officers instead of relying on customary law enforced by local notables (thou the latter still happened a lot). And for Confucianism, for almost all of its existence, saw the best way to enact their worldly vision was through influencing the Emperor/King and their imperial/monarchial apparatus; Chinese philosophy is very much Chinese Political Philosophy. (Besides things like Xuanxue, ofc.)
While Mozi and Xunzi are often recommended here, I've found they might not be the most accessible entry points. Mozi, while interesting, had relatively limited historical influence compared to other schools of thought - being more well known to lay Chinese audience by his portrayals in historical dramas than his works. It would be somewhat like introducing Western philosophy through a lesser-known PreSocratic philosopher – potentially interesting but perhaps not the most representative starting point.
I've found that Chinese philosophy becomes more accessible when viewed through the lens of practical governance, as this provides concrete examples of how these ideas were implemented. Governance, being a universal concept, offers familiar ground for readers from any background and which ever cardinal direction. Additionally, many philosophical classics about governance have been reinterpreted over time, making them more approachable for modern readers.
TLDR: Chinese philosophy is firmly attached to Chinese history just like Western philosophy to the history of the Church. Gonna know both and let them bounce off each other.
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You want Mèngzi [ -300s Chinese quasi-anti-Machiavellian ] [silly Latinization Mencius], Ibn Sina [ 900s Islamic Aristotelian who wrote on medicine ] [silly Latinization Avicenna], and the Nyaya and Vaiśeṣika schools [ 100-1000 Hindu analytic philosophy ] [if possible try the Praśastapāda [ c600 ]].
One thing I have struggled with is not having the cultural context to interpret or appreciate thinkers further in time and space from my own perspective. Who were they, what did they care about, why were they writing about these topics in particular, who were they writing for, what else was going on at the time, what concepts and metaphors and examples were or weren't readily accessible as starting points. Things like that. So when I started branching out more in reading philosophy, I also had to start reading more deep history. Which I enjoyed anyway, so I'm probably overlooking other good paths in favor of one I like, but it worked for me.
E.g. I first read Plato, Sun Tzu, and Musashi in middle and high school. I got a lot more out of Plato when I revisited after taking a single classics course in college. I got a lot more out of Sun Tzu after working for a few years with clients who needed to manage groups of people and large companies and coordinate diverse interests in pursuit of their goals. I got more out of Musashi after I started reading the Sequences and thought about what it meant to have a single goal that subsumes or outweighs all others.
At some point I became decently widely read in "Western philosophy", of the tradition that goes from Athens through Italy and Germany and Britain to the U.S. [ forking off into Philosophy and Science only after the Industrial Revolution ]. But somehow, I never acquired any operational sense of any of the corresponding "shadow" networks of writings that were only discovered by 'Western' philosophers to be published in Greek, German, Latin, or English after industrialization. Centrally, I'm thinking of East Asian, Indian, and Islamic authors, although there could be more philosophically productive pre-industrial cultures of which I'm ignorant.
I know there are compendia out there, but starting as I am from a position of almost total helpless ignorance on the object level, I trust random sources almost not at all to be discriminating on the actual value of people's ideas.
My anemic existing context: I wouldn't be a LessWronger if I hadn't read Musashi, but as far as I know he just didn't write much and wasn't very much in dialog with the rest of "his" culture [like a Socrates who was never succeeded]. Years ago I tried to read Confucius and bounced, due to disagreeing with all of his opinions. I also tried Sun Tzu, but only bounced off him because I found tactics boring at the time, and might try him again. I've heard that both pre-Industrial India and 11C-13C Islam were expert at medicine and [more in Islam's case] calculation, but I haven't retained any specific names [other than al-Khwarizmi, who didn't sound any more interestingly-idealist to read than, say, Blaise Pascal, though I could have misapprehended].
I've asked around and so far been recommended Mozi, who looks promising, and Xunzi. If you care to humor a cultural [& linguistic] monoglot's embarrassingly Knightian uncertainties: wrt wherever your locality of expertise is, where should I start? What should I know first?