 The present essay begins, in section 1, with a synthetic conceptualization of Qing philosophy as a period concept that conveys both substantive intellectual contents and a particular temporal position. From historiographical and historical vantage points, it argues on behalf of the distinctiveness of the modes and patterns of philosophical intellection in Qing times, identifying their departure from antecedent Song-Ming thoughts while paying due attention to aspects of continuity. These dominant manners of intellection that characterize Qing philosophy are represented by four ideal-types of thinking—vitalism, historicism, utilitarianism, and intellectualism. Together, they furnished the fundamental orientations and standards by which learning was pursued, adjudicated, and evaluated in the Qing period.