Biography of Wang Bi

Author: Wang Xiaoyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: The preface "A Biography of He Yan" and the main text "A Biography of Wang Bi" together reveal the formative factors, theoretical connotations, and historical significance of the Zhengshi Xuanxue (Neo-Daoism of the Late Wei Dynasty). Under the conditions of the crisis in Confucian exegesis, the revival of Taoism, and the eastward spread of Buddhism, He Yan preliminarily established the metaphysical Xuanxue theory that valued "non-being." Wang Bi, building upon this foundation, successfully resolved a series of academic dilemmas such as existence and non-existence, action and non-action, and Confucian ritual propriety versus natural spontaneity using the method of fundamental and derivative relationships. With the logic of form and name, he forgot the words to grasp the meaning, comprehensively revitalizing the Laozi, the Zhouyi, and the Analects, laying the theoretical foundation for Wei-Jin Xuanxue, and guiding Chinese culture into a new era of Confucian-Taoist integration. However, due to the ultimate concern of Wang Bi's philosophy not being social ideals but the natural essence of life, there exists a historical limitation of weakening social cohesion.