Research On Form And Spirit Thought In Eastern HanDynasty

The Form and Spirit problems had occupied an important status in the ancient ideology system of China. Namely, Form and Spirit mainly refers to the questions related to the form and spirit of human beings. In ancient China, there were Theory of Spiritual Imperishability which believes in "Form Following Spirit" and Theory of Spiritual Perishability that holds "Spirit Following Form". In Eastern Han Dynasty, the divination concept was popular and the Theory of Spiritual Imperishability was generally believed. In terms of this, Huan Tan presented "The Metaphor of The candle and the candle flame" in his XinLun, which preached that the spirit of a man disappears when he dies off, the spirit can only exist by attaching to the form, and both birth and death of human beings are natural. Wang Chong inherited and developed the Form and Spirit Concept of Huan Tan to present a more systematic Theory of Spiritual Perishability, including "The Metaphor of Fire and the Light" and "The Metaphor of Millet and Sack"in his LunHeng. What’s more, he stated "No-Ghost Theory" clearly to deny the saying that a died man would become a ghost. The Form and Spirit Concept of Huan Tan and Wang Chong made a comprehensive and in-depth critique to the superstition popular in Eastern Han Dynasty, which played a far-reaching impact on the Theory of Spiritual Perishability of future generations.