In this paper, the author has divided the encounter and dialogue between Western and Chinese philosophical thought in the twentieth century into two periods, namely the first half and the second half of the twentieth century. From 1840 to 1919, many Christian missionaries translated a lot of works in Western philosophy and theology into Chinese. These Western philosophers and their ideas played an important role for the intellectual enlightenment in the Chinese academic circle and for reform and revolution in the Chinese political sphere. After the “May Fourth Movement” which was the high tide of the “New Culture” development, there were mainly three orientations in the introduction of Western thought: Marxism, scientism and humanism (or anthropocentrism). In contrast to the irregular and sporadic studies of Western philosophical thought by the Chinese in the first half of the twentieth century, the Chinese academic circle has had comprehensive and systematic studies since the 1980s. In order to gain a good knowledge of Christian philosophy, the Chinese can get a comprehensive understanding of Western culture and continue the constructive dialogue between Western and Chinese philosophical thought and between these two cultures.