An Analysis Of Wang Chong’s Edification Philosophy Based On The Presupposition Of Human Nature Theory

Edification,as a way of social governance that can effectively improve the moral quality of the people,has always attracted the attention of ancient Chinese philosophers.As the starting point of the philosophy of edification,the theory of human nature has always been the focus of ancient Chinese philosophy.This thesis starts from the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Wang Chong’s edification philosophy based on the presupposition of human nature theory,and through the analysis of its specific content,explore the deep connection between his theory of human nature and edification philosophy,and absorb the progress of his thoughts,so as to provide reference experience and enlightenment for the moral edification problems faced by the Chinese society today.First of all,the theory of human nature,as the starting point of his edification philosophy,is related to the theory of Qi and destiny.Wang Chong believes that human nature comes from the Qi produced by the unconscious heaven,and that human nature is different because of the disparity in the thickness of Qi,and it is reflected in the bones of human beings.The characteristic of human nature is that it is variable at the level of acquired nature,and the way to change is through edification.But the paradox is that human nature is variable,but destiny is fixed.Wang Chong’s active and enterprising spiritual pursuit has alleviated this contradiction.Secondly,as Wang Chong’s approach to good under the theory of human nature,edification can turn evil into good and stop chaos.The main content of edification is classic works after careful judgment and rational thinking.The main ways of edification are family education,school education,social education and self-education.The goal of edification is to cultivate good people with good intentions.The ruler should still conform to nature and apply edification,but there is no inevitable connection between edification and national destiny.Finally,this thesis discusses its enlightenment and reference significance to contemporary Chinese moral edification after a logical combing of Wang Chong’s theory of human nature and its edification philosophy.The enlightenment of Wang Chong’s edification philosophy based on the presupposition of human nature theory to today’s society is that one is to ease the contradiction between edification and destiny with an enterprising spirit,the other is to emphasize the cultivation of critical and rational spirit,and the third is to emphasize the cultivation of correct learning concepts.