A Textual Research On Wangfu’s Qianfulun

The thesis studies and distinguishes such questions as the time when "A Treatise on the Latent Man" was written, circulation of different versions, literature cited, Wang Fu’s life, etc. and comprehensively discusses Wang Fu’s Tao of Government, the grammar and literary significance in history of "A Treatise on the Latent Man". The central argument of the thesis is:The philosophical foundation of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government is "Theory of Vitality Primitive". Wang Fu was fully aware of the complexity of human nature. By transforming Dong Zhongshu’s heaven-human relationship, Wang Fu not only publicized civil rights, but also retained the divine right. He expected the divine right to protect the civil rights, but in the meantime granted the supreme power to the monarch. The former makes him people-oriented when expressing his ideas of administering the borderland, his economic ideas and the idea of improving customs; the latter makes him advocate using both etiquette and laws to rule the country, in order to ensure the authority of the monarch to achieve the governance. Wang Fu’s Tao of Government has many limitations, but it is feasible to improve the governance at that time and it has a high practical value. Wang Fu’s "A Treatise on the Latent Man" is a representation of the political essays in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. It retains the "Han character":mellow and subtle, and partially reflects the self-consciousness to seek breakthroughs actively; it is an important part in the history of essay development of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The thesis includes the three sections: the upper section, the middle section and the lower section.The upper section is the study of Wang Fu and relative works on "A Treatise on the Latent Man". Chapter1studies and clarifies when and where Wang Fu, Ma Rong and other two friends played together, etc., and on this basis outlines the life story of Wang Fu. At the same time, verify the writing time of every article in "A Treatise on the Latent Man" and re-determine the approximate time range when "A Treatise on the Latent Man" was finished, to make this conclusion more rigorous and precise. Chapter2is the study and outline of the pedigree of versions and version differences of "A Treatise on the Latent Man", to make sure the spread and versions of the book "A Treatise on the Latent Man". Chapter3collects comprehensive data of quotations in "A Treatise on the Latent Man", analyzes the data, and explores its literature value. The middle section is the interpretation of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government in "A Treatise on the Latent Man". Chapter1,2and3mainly explain the philosophical basis of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government, including the explanation of Wang Fu’s "Theory of Vitality Primitive","Theory of Human Nature" and his re-explanation of the heaven-human relationship. Chapter4,5and6mainly explains the handling of the relations between the monarch, ministers and the people, in order to outline and arrange the basic framework of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government. Chapter7,8and9, on the basis of the previous discourse, studies the practice guidelines of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government in the administrative process, including the following three views:Wang Fu’s ideas of administering the borderland, his economic ideas, and the idea of improving customs.The lower section is the study of the writing style and the literary significance in history of Wang Fu’s "A Treatise on the Latent Man". Chapter1is mainly on Wang Fu’s writing awareness and literary concepts, as a basis for later study of his literary style. Chapter2, first specifically explains the grammar of "A Treatise on the Latent Man", including the analysis of its art of composition, syntax, and morphology, and on this basis, from the perspective of grammar it further inspects the characteristics and causes of its subtle writing style. Chapter3mainly focuses on the inheritance and breakthrough of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty in "A Treatise on the Latent Man", so as to clarify the position of Wang Fu’s essays in literary history, and to deepen the understanding of his writing style. Chapter4, by comparison with Wang Chong’s and Zhong Changtong’s writing styles, further explains the subtle writing style of Wang Fu’s "A Treatise on the Latent Man", and clarifies its positive impact on the development of later literature.At last is the appendix of the thesis, including the following five parts:"Chronicle of Wang Fu’s Life","Compilation of Lost Works in’A Treatise on the Latent Man’","Works of the past on’A Treatise on the Latent Man’","Prefaces and Postscripts of the past to’A Treatise on the Latent Man’" and "Graphic Display of Wang Fu’s Tao of Government in’A Treatise on the Latent Man’".