Deviant and opposed to theology, Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty and his "On Balance"

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In the ideological and academic field of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the theology of Weiwei prevailed for a while, while the idea of rebuttal was tit-for-tat and full of critical spirit. Wang Chong was one of the most outstanding representatives, and waged an indomitable struggle against theology and superstitious ideas.

Wang Chongzi Zhongren, born in the third year of Jianwu (27), was a native of Shangyu (present-day Shangyu, Zhejiang). Wang Chong's ancestor was originally a native of Yuancheng (元城, in modern Damingdong, Hebei), wei county, and because of his military merits, he was enfeoffed with the Jiyang Pavilion, and after being stripped of his official title, he settled there and made a career in Nongsang. By the time of his father and grandfather, he had to take refuge twice because he was ostracized by the Hao family, first moving to Qiantang County (present-day west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang) to make a living as a trader, and later forced to migrate to Shangyu.

Wang Chong was bright and studious since childhood, lost his father at a young age, and his family was poor, but he did not drop out of school because of this. Later, Wang Chong went to Luoyang, the capital of beijing, and entered the Taixue School. Because his family was poor and had no books, he often went to Luoyang To read the books he sold, so he went to the words of the families.

After Wang Chong returned to Shangyu from Luoyang, he made a living as a teacher; later he worked as a small official such as Gong Cao of the county, but eventually resigned because of political disagreements. Since then, he has been idle at home, immersed in research, and focused on the writing of "On Balance". "On Balance" has a total of 85 articles and more than 200,000 words, of which the "Invitation Chapter" is now missing.

This is a "specialized" science. Wang Chong said in the "Self-Discipline Chapter": "Wounding forgery books and customs texts is not honest, so it is the book of "On Balance". ”

The so-called "pseudo-books and customary texts" obviously refer to false books full of theological content. This shows that Wang Chong's writing "On Balance" was aimed at exposing the absurdity of Wei Wei's superstition. The sharp point of its criticism is precisely the feudal theological thinking of the Han Dynasty.

The theoretical core of the feudal theology of the Han Dynasty, that is, the promotion of "heaven" has a will, can communicate with human induction, and is the creator of all things in the universe. Wang Chong's criticism of this delusion of "heaven and man induction" is, first of all, to deny the theological concept of "heaven", believing that everything in the universe is composed of "qi". "Qi" is subordinate to the "body" and is all material. They are simply the difference between the tangible and the intangible.

Regarding the materiality of "heaven", Wang Chong said: "The heavenly one, the body, is the same as the earth. There are houses in the sky and houses in the land. The house is attached to the earth, and the form of the heavens is lined up. Here, Wang Chong argues that heaven and earth, like earth, are material "bodies." He also said: "Heaven and earth, natural nature containing qi", believing that the body of heaven and earth is composed of material "qi". Therefore, "Heavenly Dao, Natural Nature, and Inaction" shows that "Heaven" is a natural phenomenon. This restored the natural nature of "heaven", denied the theology of "heaven", and hit the crux of the feudal theological system.

Since heaven and earth are both "bodies" and are material natural phenomena, they cannot have a will, cannot have perception and consciousness. Therefore, the heavens cannot condemn or warn people, nor can they send a sign to the earth. Wang Chong said that heaven "has no desire for mouth and no desire for things", how can it have the will? How can conscious activity be carried out? It negates the theology of "heaven and man induction" and makes the myth of "divine right of kingship" and catastrophe self-defeating. Even Liu Xiu's bloody slaughter of the peasant rebel army and the deception of seizing power by means of a spell were also exposed.

In order to expose the teleology of heavenly induction of good and evil retribution, Wang Chong listed a large number of facts to refute. He said: Since "the good go along with the way, and the wicked go against heaven," but "the life of the wicked is not short, and the age of the good is not long," why doesn't heaven allow the good to die a hundred years old and the wicked to die short?

In response to the absurd claim that "thunder is the wrath of heaven" and that lightning strikes "is punished", Wang Chong pointed out that those who died in zhonglei according to his own investigation "must have fever and scorch in the middle, and burn the skin in the middle body, and smell the fire on their corpses." Therefore, he asserted: "Fu Lei, fire also", thus refuting the absurdity of "Thunder is the anger of heaven" and "punishment".

At the same time as exposing the theology of WeiWei, Wang Chong also made a strong refutation of the theory of ghosts and gods.

Wang Chong believes, "People, things also." Things, things also", in terms of natural properties, people and things are the same. So, "things don't die as ghosts, so why can people die as ghosts"? He further explained: "People who die and have exhausted their blood veins, exhaust themselves and their essence are extinguished, their bodies are decayed, and they are decayed into ashes."

He said, "Now that a man is dead, his arms are decayed, he cannot hold a knife again, his claws and teeth are depraved, he cannot be eaten again, and he can harm people"?

Wang Chong believes that the concept of ghosts and gods is the result of people's "thoughts and thoughts", not that the "spirit" becomes a ghost after death.

In terms of epistemology, Wang Chong attacked the fallacy of "being born to know", arguing that "saints cannot be prophets" and not acknowledging the existence of saints with prophets. He said: "Do not learn from self-knowledge, do not ask questions about self-knowledge, act in ancient and modern times, and do not have anything."

Wang Chong insisted on learning and knowing, attaching importance to the accumulation of acquired experience, and in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, when the Wei wei was prevalent, it obviously had the practical significance of regurgitation.

Wang Chong also advocated that history is evolutionary and developed, and opposed the theory of historical regression of "respecting the past and despising the present" and "praising the past and destroying the present." He described the development of "drinking blood and ru mao" in ancient times and "drinking wells and eating millet" in later generations, illustrating the development and changes of history. He also paid attention to the relationship between material life and the people's food and clothing, and the country's chaos.

Wang Chong was an outstanding materialist thinker in ancient China. At a time when superstitious ideas were rampant, he wrote a special study of "On Balance" with a fearless critical spirit, which was in opposition to the feudal theology of the time and was regarded as a "different book" that deviated from the scriptures. Therefore, after the "On Balance" was written, it was buried for a long time, and it was not until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty that it gradually spread to the world.

Wang Chong had a rough life, and in his later years he was poor and sick. In the third year of Yuan He (86), he moved again, and later became a state official, and two years later resigned and returned home. His friend Xie Yiwu once wrote to Emperor Zhang of Han and recommended his talents, and Emperor Zhang of Han enlisted him in the dynasty, but Wang Chong said that he was ill. In his later years, he made a living writing books, was poor and had no support, and died during the first year of the reign of Emperor Yong.

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