LUN HENG
121
fall of great men and reigns. He similarly accepted the claims of divination, astrology and physiognomy (all rejected by Hsüntzu). But for Wang Ch'ung no less than for Hsüntzu there is nothing supernatural about any of these phenomena. Wang Ch'ung always demands a natural explanation. A further example which may help to clarify the difference between the naturalistic scepticism of Wang Ch'ung and of Hsüntzu is their attitude to ghosts and apparitions. Hsüntzu (in his chapter 17) denies any reality to ghosts or spirits of any kind. Apparitions are hallucinations of an inferior or diseased mind. Wang Ch'ung, on the other hand, is not sure whether ghosts and apparitions occur or not. He is inclined to accept that they do. However, if they do exist, he writes, they are not the ghosts of the dead come back for revenge as believed by most of his contemporaries. He outlines several possible explanations of the appearance of apparitions (in his chapter 65), probably selected because they do not accept the theory that ghosts are dead men's souls. Two of these theories are favoured by Wang Ch'ung. The first states that ghosts are a kind of hallucination produced by men's thoughts when they are sick and afraid. The other theory is that ghostly apparitions are omens. Wang Ch'ung cannot step out of his time and reject the widespread belief in ghosts, but he manages to give an explanation with a distinctive twist of his own. He suggests that ghosts are made up of the Yang fluid alone without the Yin, and hence are not real but mere "semblances" of reality.
So much for Wang Ch'ung's critical ability and scepticism. To turn now to his constructive philosophy, this has been underestimated, in particular by Fung Yu-lan. As a Confucian, Wang Ch'ung offers little that compares with Mencius' theory of man's nature or Hsüntzu's analysis of the value of ritual. His own suggestion, a compromise three-grade theory of human nature (taken up by Han Yü of the T'ang) is of no great significance. It was in any case already present, though less explicitly, in the thought of Tung Chung-shu and Huainantzu of the earlier Han. Similarly, as a Taoist, Wang Ch'ung, though clear and convincing, falls short of the subtlety of Chuangtzu. Nevertheless, we can agree with Li Shih-fan, in his criticism of Fung Yu-lan's History of Chinese Philosophy (see Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies 26, 1939, pp. 215-250, 286-8), that Wang Ch'ung's attempt
LUN HENG
121
fall of great men and reigns. He similarly accepted the claims of divination, astrology and physiognomy (all rejected by Hsüntzu). But for Wang Ch'ung no less than for Hsüntzy there is nothing supernatural about any of these phenomena. Wang Ch'ung always demands a natural explanation. A further example which may help to clarify the difference between the naturalistic scepticism of Wang Ch'ung and of Hsüntzu is their attitude to ghosts and apparitions. Hsüntzu (in his chapter 17) denies any reality to ghosts or spirits of any kind. Apparitions are hallucinations of an inferior or diseased mind. Wang Ch'ung, on the other hand, is not sure whether ghosts and apparitions occur or not. He is inclined to accept that they do. However, if they do exist, he writes, they are not the ghosts of the dead come back for revenge as believed by most of his contemporaries. He outlines several possible explanations of the appearance of apparitions (in his chapter 65), probably selected because they do not accept the theory that ghosts are dead men's souls. Two of these theories are favoured by Wang Ch'ung. The first states that ghosts are a kind of hallucination produced by men's thoughts when they are sick and afraid. The other theory is that ghostly apparitions are omens. Wang Ch'ung cannot step out of his time and reject the widespread belief in ghosts, but he manages to give an explanation with a distinctive twist of his own. He suggests that ghosts are made up of the Yang fluid alone without the Yin, and hence are not real but mere "semblances" of reality.
So much for Wang Ch'ung's critical ability and scepticism. To turn now to his constructive philosophy, this has been underestimated, in particular by Fung Yu-lan. As a Confucian, Wang Ch'ung offers little that compares with Mencius' theory of man's nature or Hsüntzu's analysis of the value of ritual. His own suggestion, a compromise three grade theory of human nature (taken up by Han Yü of the T'ang) is of no great significance. It was in any case already present, though less explicitly, in the thought of Tung Chung-shu and Huainantzu of the earlier Han. Similarly, as a Taoist, Wang Ch'ung, though clear and convincing, falls short of the subtlety of Chuangtzu. Nevertheless, we can agree with Li Shih-fan, in his criticism of Fung Yu-lan's History of Chinese Philosophy (see Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies 26, 1939, pp. 215-250, 286-8), that Wang Ch'ung's attempt
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.