From the end of the Western Han Dynasty to the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty
Eastern China, Qingzhou
In the vast history of ancient China, Confucius was not the only great sage. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, there was a sage with the same name as Confucius but few people knew about it, he was Wang Chong, the son of Gengren.
His wisdom deeply influenced that era, but for various reasons, his book "On Balance" was banned for 2,000 years.
Wang Chong lived in turbulent years, when the Han Dynasty was dying, Wang Mang usurped the throne and seized the Han family, during which the society was in ruins, the people lived in poverty, and Confucianism was also greatly hit.
At this time, Wang Chong devoted himself to knowledge and had a profound study of the hundred schools of thought, especially the pre-Qin princes.
In an ordinary academy in Qingzhou, Wang Chong became a teacher who preached and taught and solved doubts with his extensive knowledge and profound cultural heritage.
Although Confucianism was excluded at that time, Wang Chong always adhered to his own thoughts, holding respect for knowledge and the pursuit of truth.
Wang Chong attaches great importance to empirical and logical reasoning, he believes that there is no relative in heaven, and holds high the banner of natural law and the inherent goodness of human nature, advocates the merger of the strengths of a hundred schools, and emphasizes the self-cultivation and critical spirit of the individual.
These views were extremely avant-garde at the time, even touching the nerves of vested interests, and were an assault on the rulers and their ideology.
After the publication of the book "On Balance", it caused an uproar in the intellectual circle with its unique historical knowledge and profound philosophical insights.
In the book, Wang Chong provides a profound critique of many popular superstitions and pseudosciences, and gives logical explanations for natural phenomena. However, such a view came into serious conflict with the dominant ideology of the time.
After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the new rulers were eager to consolidate their rule, and began to vigorously promote Confucianism, with Confucius and Mencius as the core values of society.
Wang Chong's apparent critical stance challenged the new regime, and his books and ideas were gradually marginalized and even severely suppressed, with the official ban on Lunheng.
Despite this, Wang Chong did not give up his faith. Throughout his life, Wang Chong has always adhered to his admiration for knowledge and his persistent pursuit of truth.
He believes that a person's moral cultivation and intellectual development should be freed from the shackles of tradition and realized through personal experience and rational thinking.
Thousands of years have passed in the blink of an eye, but Wang Chong's name and his book "On Balance" have been buried by the long river of history, and the ban of 2,000 years has made him seriously underestimated in the long-term historical process.
In modern times, people have gradually begun to re-examine this neglected thinker, whose wisdom was not understood by the world during his lifetime, and now has won more and more praise and reflection.
In contemporary society, Wang Chong's thought is no longer heretical, but regarded as a unique philosophical asset, and his promotion of critical spirit and scientific attitude is considered to be an extremely precious heritage of modern society.
Even though this wisdom was ignored and suppressed in his time, history finally returned a fair evaluation to this saint.
Now, whenever people mention Wang Chong, they will always be amazed by his foresight.
As he himself said, the truth can stand the test of time, although he did not see the understanding and knowledge of the world during his lifetime, but today, thousands of years later, Wang Chong's name and wisdom are all shining and will remain in the annals of history.