Wang Bi is an author whose biographical details are extremely limited in publicly available sources: his real name, place of origin, dates of birth and death, and educational background cannot be verified. What can be relied upon at present are only the two works attributed to his name, Dongchao Ji and Dongchao Ji (Records of the Eastern Dynasty). Judging from their titles and their existing classification, these two works fall under Eastern philosophy and classical literature, and their content presumably concerns the historical events, institutions, and thought of ancient dynasties, bearing a clear character of historical commentary and literary record. The two titles are similar in name and may represent two genres on the same theme, one emphasizing the recording of events and the other the recording of sayings, each serving to corroborate the other. Wang Bi's writing style thus appears as one that cites old accounts and orders past affairs, employing a concise manner to sort out the governance and disorder and the principles of former ages. His influence lies mainly in providing referable texts for later generations to understand the relevant classical documents. Because the materials are scattered, his place within the scholarly tradition is difficult to assess, and readers should begin their examination with the works themselves.
