Wang Chong witnessed the purple vermicelli toilet, and Wa Yu got together to discuss all kinds of clouds, which is beyond comprehension. "The listener thinks it's true, the speaker doesn't give up, the viewer thinks it's true, and there are many disseminators", and even "the south is called a teacher". He has also read about advocating treachery and falsehood. He tried to make people "aware of confusion and know the difference between truth and falsehood." Therefore, Lun Heng was written in the mood of "angering his heart, disturbing his pen, and disturbing his hand", and refuted the fallacy theory with "judging the truth with the best words" (Lun Heng Invented). Ye Fan said that his works can "explain the similarities and differences of things, which is a suspicion of the secular" (The Biography of Wang Chong in the Later Han Dynasty). Ji Xiaolan said that Wang Chong's thought was "extremely beneficial" (Summary of Four Saints (volume 120)), and neighbor Qian Mu said that he was "the pioneer of Wei Jin's new thought".
Wang Chong's ancestors were awarded Yang Tingting for "meritorious service in the army", but not long after. Later, in his previous life, his grandfather Wang Fan and his father Wang Yong moved to Shangyu because of their feud with Ding Bo, a famous family. Therefore, he claimed to be from an isolated family, close to the life of ordinary people, and belonged to the lower class. He was ridiculed as "the foundation of his ancestors had no Yi Shu, and the legacy of literature and ink had no articles" (on balance, he was "isolated from Taoism and poor in ambition" all his life. In his later years, "White-faced sun and moon exceed the stride, live a long life, rely on little, have nothing to support, and are unhappy", and the situation is quite difficult. After he left office and returned to China, he enrolled students and taught, while studying knowledge and concentrating on writing.
Wang Chong told himself that he was indifferent to officials, saying that "he was not greedy for wealth", "he didn't admire senior officials" and "he condescended." He believes that "the world can know good, although it is still obvious;" We can't treat secular human feelings with the feeling of "respecting people and humiliating them", and we should "worry about the lack of morality and not suffer from the disrespect of nobles; The noble sentiment of "not being ashamed of reputation and never leaving the evil position" stands in the world, preferring to live a humble life rather than go with the flow (on balance and self-discipline). Therefore, in his later years, he was not only extremely poor in material life, but also extremely depressed in spirit.
Judging from Wang Chong's self-discipline, after he left office and returned to his hometown, he wrote a book with the spirit of "telling the truth of the world" and "examining its truth", hoping to leave his thoughts to future generations to teach. He said: "The number of officials is not coupled, but the book is self-disciplined." He also said: "If you don't return it later, you will hang down the book to show the future" (On Balance and Self-discipline). Therefore, all his works were written for the realistic problems in the social and ideological circles at that time, and all of them were permeated with fresh and clear critical spirit. Wang Chong mocked the vulgar social customs of "ascending to the throne, everyone attached to it, retiring from poverty and rebelling against the old" and wrote a book "Ridiculous Customs"; He is worried about the way the people govern the people, but it is not appropriate. He wrote a book "Government Affairs" for Chen Tong, the magistrate of a county. Feeling that "vulgar books and false writings are dishonest", I wrote a book to weigh them. In his later years, due to poverty, spiritual loneliness, old age and infirmity, he wrote sixteen books that nourished nature and ended his life with words.
Although Wang Chong has many works, there is only one book, Lun Heng. The purpose of Wang Chong's writing Lun Heng was aimed at the "vulgar prose" and "vulgar Confucianism" at that time. Is it right or wrong for him to seek the truth with fearless spirit? Based on science and taking "verification" as the criterion, he mercilessly criticized all fallacies. Under the circumstance that divination superstition is rampant all over the world, he dares to publicly attack "the feeling of heaven and man" and "the strange spirit", sweeping away the divination trend of Yin and Yang in the Han Dynasty for more than 200 years, and finding a new way for academic research in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is of great significance in the history of thought.
Lun Heng is an epoch-making work in the history of China's philosophy. It attacked the Confucian theory of harmony between man and nature with Taoist naturalism, which caused great waves in the history of China's philosophy.
According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, there are eighty-five articles in Lun Heng, one of which is unwritten, but actually there are only eighty-four articles, which is a masterpiece of philosophy and politics written by him with thirty years' hard work. Because Lun Heng pointed directly at the official theology Confucianism, it was banned and could not be circulated. It was only after the collapse of the Eastern Han regime that the light of day came to light, but it was a hundred years since Wang Chong died.
In Lun Heng, we also talked about education. For example, the role of environment and education in human cultivation; Oppose the learning theory of "knowing from birth" and advocate "learning before knowing"; Oppose rote learning and attach importance to practical learning methods; Oppose retro and attach importance to realistic educational content; Opposing "learning from the past" and advocating the style of study of "asking difficult questions and exploring", etc., all have certain influence on the development of materialistic educational thought in the future. Based on the theory of natural science, Wang Chong absorbed the Taoist thought of "governing by doing nothing" and Xun Kuang's thought of "doing things for heaven, not for the existence of Yao, not for the death of Jie", and established a materialistic world outlook and philosophical system.
Wang Chong inherited the traditional materialism of ancient China on the basic issues of philosophy. He believes that heaven and earth are material, and the movement and change of the universe and the generation of everything are natural phenomena. He once said: "Heaven is the husband, and the body is in the same place" (On Balance and Sacrificing Justice). He also said: "The sky is above, the ground is below, the air at the lower level is rising, and the air at the upper level is falling. Everything is born in the middle. " Obviously, Wang Chong regards heaven as a natural thing, not a personified, will-making and supreme god. So he said, "What about the life of everything in spring and the achievements in autumn?" ? Things are natural. For heaven and earth, it is appropriate to do it by hand. Heaven and earth have won the hands of thousands of Qian Qian in Qian Qian, but also for thousands of Qian Qian in Qian Qian? "(on nature) he proved that heaven is a natural thing, not a god, on the grounds that creation requires hands, and it is impossible for heaven to create everything without hands. He regards the movement of the sun and the moon as invariable, that is, the movement of celestial bodies has its own laws, which is a natural process, and denies the fallacy that heaven has a purpose and will, and can help the good and punish the evil and punish the personnel. He also made fish as water and animals as mountains, which proved that everything has its natural nature, so he concluded: "Heaven and earth can't do it, and we can't know it." (On Balance and Nature)
So, why is there a catastrophe? He said that this is an imbalance in the operation law, not a conscious induction, just like a person who is sick, "the blood vessels are not harmonious, life is sick, the atmosphere is not harmonious, and disasters are different in old age" (On Balance Report). He pointed out that human life is a natural phenomenon because husband and wife live in harmony. Similarly, it is a natural phenomenon that people die and die again. How did they become ghosts? He explained: "Ghosts return, gods return, barren and invisible" (On Balance and Death). The spirit of death disappears, and the bones return to the ground, invisible. From the perspective of medical physiology, it is proved that human life and death are ordinary natural phenomena. Wang Chong further expounded the relationship between form and spirit, strongly refuted the existence of ghosts and gods, and adhered to the principle of materialism.
However, Wang Chong's materialistic view of nature and atheism are simple and intuitive, and it is impossible to have an essential understanding of natural phenomena and human society, so some explanations are also unconvincing and scientific.
Wang Chong's only existing book is Lun Heng, which is written with the attitude of "being sick and false" and aims at "establishing a balance between truth and falsehood", that is, emphasizing truth and objectivity and opposing false exaggeration. His educational thoughts are also reflected in this book.
1, on the role of education
Similar to Dong Zhongshu, Wang Chong also divided human nature into three types: those born good, above average; People born evil are people below the middle class; Good and bad people, or people who are mixed with good and evil, are all human beings. However, the good and evil of human nature are not determined by nature, but are composed of natural "qi". Human nature is "thick with gas, so there is good and evil in nature." He believes that few people are born good or evil, most of them are from China, and their nature can be shaped by education. People born evil can also make evil better through education. In a word, in his view, people's good and evil lies in education. Therefore, he particularly emphasized that rulers should attach importance to education and play an important role in governing the country and educating the people.
2. About training objectives
Wang Chong's ideal training goal is "learning". He divided talents into four levels: the first is "scholar", who can think independently and write books; The second is a "scholar", whose independent thinking ability is slightly inferior, but he is good at writing general memorial documents; The third is "everyone", far from writing, but you can read widely and memorize; The fourth is "Confucian scholars", not to mention the Expo. They can only master one major (once) and engage in teaching. This is the lowest-level talent, only a little better than an uneducated layman. It can be seen that Wang Chong pays special attention to research ability and innovative consciousness, followed by literary talent and profound knowledge, and despises teachers who have taught specially. Wang Chong sneered that such people are parrots, and like "masters" and "postmen", they have no creative achievements of their own. This of course stems from his strong dissatisfaction with the Confucian classic education at that time, but it is also one-sided to despise the teachers who impart knowledge in general.
3. Learn to seek knowledge
Wang Chong insisted on materialism and thought that there was no one born to know between heaven and earth, and learning was the only way to acquire knowledge. Of course, people have different endowments, but it is impossible to know without learning. He pointed out: "talents have their own strengths, and they know things by learning, and they know by learning, without asking." "Learning from knowledge" is one of the most valuable epistemological propositions in ancient times.
Wang Chong believes that learning should be a process of combining perceptual cognition with rational thinking. Among them, the direct understanding of what you hear and see is the foundation, otherwise you may be confused by false and exaggerated things. Therefore, he stressed: "You must be eyes and ears, so that you can be sure." But only by eyes and ears, we can only get appearances, and we must raise our perceptual knowledge to a rational level in order to get a correct judgment. He said: "Therefore, those who are right and wrong are not eyes and ears, and they are also happy." Wang Chong also talked about the role of senses and thinking, which raised the ancient learning theory to a new height.
4. Ask difficult questions and keep your distance from the teacher.
Wang Chong sharply criticized the blind obedience and superstitious style of study of the Confucians at that time, and he was "faithful to the teacher and ancient". He emphasized the spirit of "asking difficult questions" in his study. Asking questions is different from asking questions when you don't understand, but asking questions. The questioner has his own opinion after personal thinking. There is no limit to the questions, even saints. He thought, "You have a question you don't understand. What's the harm to Confucius?" ? Sincerely (really) have the knowledge to spread the sacred industry. Why is it against reason to attack (criticize) Confucius? "He wrote articles such as Ask Confucius and Stab Mencius, and gave several examples to show that sages can't be right in everything, and not every word is impeccable. Disciples didn't know how to ask questions at that time, but later generations echoed them blindly, and their meanings were unclear, which damaged the way of sages. To this end, Wang Chong lamented: "The difficulty of division. "Keeping a distance from the teacher means keeping a distance from the teacher, that is, you can't completely agree with the teacher's point of view, you must have your own thinking and opinions. Being far away from teachers does not mean refusing to be a teacher, nor does Wang Chong completely deny the meaning of Confucius and other sages. He advocates the spirit of pursuing academic truth, thinking diligently and seeking truth from facts. At that time, when Confucianism and the dignity of teachers prevailed, it was of great significance to go against the trend.
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