surveying history , we see that chinese philosophy passed through three distinct historical stages : the classical age , a creative period from the 6th to the early 2nd century bce ; the medieval age , from the late 2nd century bce to the 17th century ce , a period of synthesis and absorption of foreign thought ; and the modern age , from the late 17th century to the present , a period of maturation of earlier philosophical trends and introduction of new philosophies from the west .