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Wang
Chung and Rationalism in the Han Period
by
Stephen Marsh
Wang Chung has been described as the
most original and independent Chinese thinkers of the Han
period (Britannica, 2001). He is known for his rationalism
during a time when superstitious and mysterious
beliefs where prevalent and growing. Wang Chung opposed these
illogical beliefs and promoted a naturalism and skepticism
based on scientific evidence and testing (Britannica, 2001). Although
his philosophy was not accepted by the populous
during his time, his unique ideas helped prepare
China for a new philosophical period (Pas,
p.354, 1998).
Of all of his innovative works, I find Wang Chung’s skepticism particularly interesting because he
takes an approach that is unique to
most religions. Religion in general can
be thought of as a set of beliefs centering
around the mystical and paranormal parts of life.
Wang Chung believed in a more rational explanation of
the universe (Creel, p.19, 1970). I would like
to discuss some of his views on and
attacks of the more mysterious beliefs in
Chinese religion.
Wang Chung was born into a poor family
and became an orphan at a young age. He did most of his
reading in bookstores. During the time he was
growing up, Confucianism was the primary religion in China.
However, the Confucianism of the time was turning
into a superstitious and mysterious dogma. Strong emphasis was
places on supernatural phenomena. Crisis were blamed on
evil spirits or the acts of angry ghosts,
and immortality cults became increasingly popular (Creel,
p.17, 1970).
One especially popular practice was
that of sorceresses communicating with the gods. They would
wear costumes of the spirits who would posses
them, and would enter into a trance. This was
often accompanied by a rapid dance and beating
of a drum (Maspero, p.28, 1981). The spirits
would then speak through the sorcerers and
offer prophesies.
Ceremonies like these came to
characterize popular religion in China during this period.
Wang Chung rose in opposition to these thoughts and
promoted a rationalism and skepticism that was supported by
critical rational thinking. Wang Chung sought to debunk
these popular fallacies by critical arguments strongly supported with
evidence. In promoting his ideas, he is perhaps
just as well known for those doctrines that
he attacked as those he promoted (Pas,
p.354, 1998).
The argument that I find most
interesting is Wang Chung’s thoughts of death. He sought to
prove critically that after dead we do not become ghosts, do
not possess consciousness, and cannot interact with the
living. In order to prove this, he first asks why man alone
should be the only creature to transform into a spiritual
being upon death. Other creatures are not believed to haunt the world after death.
Men are just a certain type of creature and
to say that we alone become spiritual beings
and walk the earth requires a distinction to be
made between animals and us. Wang Chung could
not see any such distinction that existed and
challenged anyone else to find one (Chan
p.299, 1963).
His second reason for the disbelief in
phantoms is scientifically grounded. He points out that humans
are alive because of their life force. This force is contained
in the blood and body. Once dead, there is nothing to sustain
consciousness. The body decays and the life force is lost.
Without an animus the spirit cannot interact with the physical
world (Chan, p.300, 1963). Since people claim to see ghosts in
human form, we know these claims are
false. When the body dies, there is no form
to see. Even if a spirit existed, it
could not be physically seen and would not resemble
the body of the person in life (Chan,
p.301, 1963). When analyzed critically the belief in
ghost sightings did not seem sensible to
Wang Chung.
Yet another argument Wang Chung offers,
points out that hundreds of millions of people have died. Many
more people have died than are currently living. If everyone
becomes an earthly spirit after death, then we would see
spirits everywhere. There would be so many ghosts
that they would fill the streets. Yet when people
claim to see a spirit they see only
a few at a time. This cannot logically be
true because the number of dead people is
enormous, and constantly growing. We therefore know that
these are not legitimate claims (Chan, p.
301, 1963).
This argument reminds me of the
rationale given by Stephen Hawking for why he does not believe
time travel is possible. Hawking said if time travel were
possible then we would be flooded with tourists from the future.
Because this is not true, we must know that
it is not possible. Wang Chung asks other
questions to refute the existence of ghosts. He asks
why are they seen wearing clothes if they
have no body? If they have no body
how can they hurt us (Chan, p.
301, 1963)?
I find this argument very interesting
because of how he attacks it. He
looks for the logical holes. Wang Chung simply thinks
about the situation critically and objectively to arrive
at his answer. He requires proof to back up
claims and offers proof in the claims he
makes. This rational way of thinking was not
popular during his time, which made his
views revolutionary.
Another major aspect of Wang Chung’s
belief structure is his belief in spontaneity of the universe.
The popular belief during this time was that disasters were caused by the heavens
or spirits who sought retribution. Storms or droughts that
brought destruction would be attributed to the act
of the Heavens. It was believed that human actions
could cause vengeance or reward. Wang Chung believed
that the universe did not act with intention.
Instead he believed it was spontaneous (Chan,
p.297, 1963).
Wang Chung sees causes coming from
within. He said that the heavens do not provide food and
clothing so that man can eat and be comfortable. His explanation was that
man uses hemp for clothing because it warms people,
and man eats grains because it overcomes hunger.
Alternatively, man does not eat those things that do
not overcome hunger. To say that heaven provides
for man would be to view it as
a “farmer or mulberry girl (Chan, p.
297, 1963).”
He points out
that it is very appealing to think of
an anthropomorphic universe who provides the earth for humanities
needs. Indeed, most of China followed this causal
view, but Wang Chung said this did not
follow the Taoist belief in spontaneity (Chan,
p.297, 1963).
Wang Chung extends this belief in
spontaneity to his explanation of unusual events. He attacks
the idea that disasters are caused by the will
of Heaven. To believe so would be to view
Heaven as a drum that is struck by
a hammer. He asks, how can things activate Heaven?
His belief is that heaven can act on
us. We are like a flea in a
coat and cannot alter Heaven (Chan, p.
298, 1963).
Wang Chung used this critical approach
his philosophies. He argued that the universe is spontaneous,
heaven does not act with intent, and man
does not become a ghost when he dies. Wang
Chung is regarded as a truly independent philosopher,
and is not identified with any school of Taoism.
He has not been immensely popular in China.
However, he promoted rationalism and naturalism and prepared
China for a revolution in Taoist thinking(Pas,
p.354, 1998).
References
Brittanica Online. (2000). [Online]
[March10, 2001] Creel,
Herrlee. (1970).
What is Taoism? Chicago and
London: The University of Chicago Press. Pas,
Julian, (1998).
Historical Dictionary of Taoism. Lanham, Md.,
& London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Maspero,
Henri. (1981).
Taoism and Chinese Religion.
Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. Chan,
Wing-Tsit. (1963).
A
Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
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