Background
Chong Wang was born into a poor family at modern Shangyu, Zhejiang.
(Discourses Weighed in the Balance)
Discourses Weighed in the Balance
充 王
Chong Wang was born into a poor family at modern Shangyu, Zhejiang.
Wang's teacher was the prestigious historian Ban Biao, the latter who initiated the Book of Han. He also befriended Ban Gu, the son of Ban Biao who made further contributions to the Book of Han.
Since Chong Wang was poor and lacked enough money to purchase proper texts of study, he had to resort to frequent visits to bookshops to acquire knowledge. During his studies Chong Wang was most likely influenced by contemporary Old Text realists such as Huan Tan.
Due to his critical and quarrelsome nature, Chong Wang decided to resign from officer's positions. Xie Yiwu, a friend of Wang Chong's and a long-standing inspector and official, made an official recommendation to the court requesting that Chong Wang serve as a senior scholar under Emperor Zhang of Han. Emperor Zhang accepted this and summoned Chong Wang to appear at his court, yet Wang claimed ill health and refused to travel.
Daoism had long ago degenerated into superstition and magic, and Confucianism had been the state religion for some 150 years. Chong Wang derided all this and made a vocation of giving a rational, naturalistic account of the world and the human place in it. At the centre of his thought was the denial that Heaven has any purpose for us, whether benevolent or hostile. One example of Wang's rationalism is his argument that thunder must be caused by fire or heat, and is not a sign of the heavens being displeased. He argued that repeatable experience and experiment should be tried before adopting the belief that divine will was involved.He was equally scathing about the popular belief in ghosts. Why should only human beings have ghosts, he asked, not other animals? We are all living creatures, animated by the same vital principle. Besides, so many people have died that their ghosts would vastly outnumber living people; the world would be swamped by them.
Quotations: People say that spirits are the souls of dead men. That being the case, spirits should always appear naked, for surely it is not contended that clothes have souls as well as men.
Ban Biao began the Book of Han, which was completed by his son, Ban Gu and daughter Ban Zhao while their brother Ban Chao was a famous general who contributed his stories to expand the Book of Han.
The son of Ban Biao who made further contributions to the Book of Han.
