There is no biography of Sui Shu written by Wang Tong. Although Wang Ji (his younger brother), Wang Bo (his grandson) and Wang Zhi's "Biographies of the Old and New Tang Dynasties" are all mentioned, they are all very brief, and they are called Confucianism at the end of Sui Dynasty. Referring to other documents, we can generally know that Wang Tong was born in an official family, and his father Wang Long had been waiting for the imperial edict from Dr. Guo Zi at the beginning of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, and played seven articles of "On the Gains and Losses of VI" to Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, which was praised by Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. The Wangs have deep roots, so Wang Tong was influenced by Confucianism since he was a child. There is a record of "fifteen years as a teacher" in Li Zhongshuoming, which shows that Wang Tong was proficient in Confucianism and knowledgeable when he was a teenager.
According to legend, in the third year of Emperor Wendi's Renshou (603), Wang Tong once "traveled west to Chang 'an, met Emperor Wendi, played twelve strategies for peace, respected the king, pushed the tyrant slightly, and examined archaeology today". But it has never been reused. On the recommendation of fellow countryman Xue Daoheng, he was awarded Shu Shu Zuo Shu and Shu Wang Shi Lang. Wang Tong was not satisfied, and soon "abandoned his official position and returned as a lecturer".
After Wang Tong abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown, he devoted himself to studying the Six Classics of Confucius. It is said that he was educated by Li Yu in the East China Sea, studied Xia Jing poetry in Huiji and paid tribute to Guan in Hedong. He is very happy to learn from his father Zhonghua in Beiping. Wang Tong, after painstaking research, felt that he had learned a lot, so he imitated Confucius and wrote the Six Classics of Wang, or continued the Six Classics. He began to give lectures in his hometown of Bainiuxi. "There are often hundreds of masters, only Henan Dong Heng, Nanyang Cheng Yuan, Zhongshan Jia Qiong, Hedong Xue Shou, Taishan Yao Yi, Taiyuan Wen Yanbo, Jingzhao Du Yan and so on. More than ten people are handsome, and Yao Yi is generous, so he can be reasonable; Xue Shou understands, Fang Zhi Zhuang Zhou. " This record is generally credible. Fang Fang, a famous minister in the early Tang Dynasty, was also a disciple of Wang Tong, but according to textual research, this was not the case.
The main work later commented that Wang Tonghao sought his own name and imitated Confucius' Six Classics. He called himself "Confucius Wang" when he gave lectures in Hefen, and he was a flashy person. His book Continued Six Classics was lost in the Tang Dynasty. Jing yuan was written by wangtong, Xue Shou and Ruan Yi. After textual research, it is regarded as forgery.
Today, the study of Wang Tong's thought mainly relies on Zhong Shuo. Some people suspect that the book Zhong Shuo is a fake, but most scholars believe that although it was not written by Wang Tong, it was originally compiled by Wang Tong's disciples Yao Yi and Xue Shou, which is generally a memory and record of his teacher's words and deeds. However, after this book arrived at Wang Tong's son Wangfu Temple, it was reclassified by Wangfu Temple. In this process, many untrue words boasting about Wang Tong were added, and even later generations suspected that they were forged. In fact, Zhong Shuo still has some value, as Zhu once said: "It is good for children to remember his words and deeds. Although it is a fake of later generations, it will not be much fake. It needs a personal blank mold so that it can be decorated. " This statement makes sense.
There are still many valuable points in Wang Tong's thought reflected in Zhong Shuo. Politically, Wang Tong aimed at restoring kingly politics and advocated "benevolent politics" and "integration of three religions", which basically conformed to the trend of the times and was progressive. Philosophically, Wang Tong devoted himself to exploring "the matter between heaven and man". He expounded his views on nature, development, epistemology and history around the relationship between man and nature, showing the tendency of simple materialism and the thought of main change. In literature, Wang Tong wrote a paper on the principles of poetry, the application of politics and religion, and advocated the reform of writing style. All these have certain progressive significance.