A Study On Wang Chong’s Theory Of Yuan Qi

Wang Chong is a materialism atheist,read through his book Lun Heng,it is not difficult to find that his Concept of Heaven,life,ghosts and gods and other aspects of thought are all revolve around Yuan Qi.Yuan Qi is an objective existence like clouds and mist;It is the intermediary of heaven and earth and it is the unconsciousness substance that returns to heaven and earth after death.The core of Wang Chong’s thought of Yuan Qi theory is the nature view on heaven and earth.In this part,Wang Chong demonstrates from three aspects: heaven and earth,man and the relationship between heaven and man.First of all,he proposes that heaven is a finite,physical substance,an objective existence without subjective will,just like the earth.Although heaven and earth exert Yuan Qi to create all things,but this process is purposeless and not serve to satisfy the needs of a willed subject.Secondly,Wang Chong believes that human beings are accidentally created by Yuan Qi,the difference between human beings and other things is whether they are endowed with crucial part of Yuan Qi and Human form will not change again.Thirdly,in his discussion of the relationship between heaven and man,Wang Chong aims at Dong Zhongshu’s doctrine of interaction between heaven and man.He explains the causes of various natural phenomena such as rain,thunder,solar eclipse and lunar eclipse,criticizes that heaven can bestow good fortune and all kinds of disaster warning theory.From this,Wang Chong emphasizes that Yuan Qi is a kind of material entity without volition.The purpose of Wang Chong’s theory of nature is explain the three characteristics and the variability of human nature.Wang Chong emphasizes the initiative of human thinking,which have positive significance.In terms of fate theory,he believed that fate can be divided into the life span which determines life and death and the fate of fame and fortune which influences equal status between wealth and poverty.Even a country also has a national life that is not under human control.Since life and death,wealth and poverty,and national destiny are all from Yuan Qi,so they can’t be changed,the national destiny is more important to people than life span or the fate of fame and fortune.In the view of ghosts and spirits,Wang Chong first proposed that death is the return of Yuan Qi between heaven and earth,so the idea of ascending heaven to become immortal is illusory.Wang Chong’s view of form and spirit takes Yuan Qi as the starting point and inherits Huan Tan’s "Metaphor of candle and fire".He suggest that the form can be wise only if the form depends on the Yuan Qi,and that Yuan Qi will dissipate when it leaves the form.He dialectically explains the relationship between Yuan Qi and form,and also demonstrates that human are not ghosts when they died.At the same time,Wang Chong also put forward his view of frugal burial to oppose the custom of extravagance in funeral and sacrifice at that time.