| Wang Chong lived in the early Eastern Han Dynasty when its ruling ideology was the systemized theory of the interaction between heaven and mankind, which had been formed since Emperor Wu of Han.At that time, divination and superstition had long generated into the public. On the basis of the thought of nature by Taoists, Wang Chong absorbed the good points of various schools of thought; combined some living examples and the natural science achievements at that time; hold high the banner of "fighting vanity"; finally built his own philosophy system which with a strong characteristic of Taoism in the criticizing the Ideology of Interaction between Heaven and Mankind.The thought of Tiandao is the core value of Wang Chong’s philosophic thinking. Carrying on Taoists’Naturalism Theory, Wang Chong put forward his own Nature natural inaction theory with plenty of examples. First, Wang Chong interpreted the moral quality "Tian"in Confucianism as the Taoists’natural "Tian" which in accordance with Taoism; at the same time he absorbed the theory of "qi zi ran" by Taoists, built his new pattern of relations between "qi"and universe and human beings: Owing to the Tian which bestowed the"qi"to the land, then things grew. All things which grew around the world were endowed with the "Yuan qi"by Tian. People were wisdom ones among all the living things, so they were endowed with "Jing qi"(Which means the crucial part of qi) by Tian. Sages of antiquity, auspicious things were endowed with "He qi"(which means the harmonious qi) by Tian. In Wang’s opinion, Tian bestowed the"qi"to the land, and then things grew. It’s an automatically procedure, not a process be disposed to anyone. From his Nature natural inaction theory, Wang Chong criticized the following ideas--thoughts of "Fu Rui","Qian Gao"and "Ren Neng Gan Tian" which were hold and spread by theorists of the ideology of interaction between heaven and mankind.On humanity, Wang Chong did his research from the aspect of "Xing is nature" by Taoists. He thought that the difference among human beings was caused by different quantity of "Yuan qi"which were bestowed by Tian (someone gets more, and others get less) There are three sorts of humanities in his opinion:better than common people, good nature; worse than common people, bad nature; common people, no good or no bad or good and bad mixed. Though Wang Chong thought that the humanity does have the difference of good and bad, the education could make a difference in the determination of someone’s nature. Wang Chong believed in "destiny", and held the belief that life and death, poverty and wealth were determined by "destiny". Carrying on the ideology of "in accordance with its natural tendency", Wang Chong suggested that life and death for life and weal and woe of people were determined by the "qi"which bestowed by Tian, which would not change by people’s behavior or conduct. So as a result, what we people could do was following their own destiny. On the matter of life and death, Wang Chong proceed from the theory of "qi zi ran", making a deny of superstitious thoughts which were very popular at that time.On politics, Wang Chong thought that the development of the society had its own objective laws, which was named "Guo Ming" by him. The rise and fall of a country had nothing to do with the fact that whether the monarch was virtuous and talented or not. Instead it was determined by "Guo Ming". A king became an honorable ruler because of a flourishing age, and he became a fatuous ruler due to a troubled world. And this demanded the governor to follow the nature, which was "governing by doing nothing that goes against nature" Wang Chong spoke highly of the theory "governing by doing nothing that goes against nature" by Taoists. He thought the ancient sages like Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun all had achieved the tidemark of the theory of "letting things take their own course" by Taoists. |
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