On Extolling Han
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with a basic understanding of Lunheng and Han intellectual history who want to read a single chapter closely
- Students of literature and history who need to study the relationship between Wang Chong’s view of past and present and his panegyric-argument
- Readers who enjoy understanding the problem of “prizing antiquity and disparaging the present” from within the text
Not a good fit for
- Readers hoping to gain systematic knowledge of Han general history or institutional history from this book
- Beginners lacking patience for classical Chinese argumentative prose who need vernacular translation and annotation
- General readers expecting Wang Chong’s life story or his complete works
Reading tips
- Read the relevant passages of “Hui Guo” and “Xu Song” first, then return to this chapter and clarify Wang Chong’s chain of argument.
- Read “Xuanhan” as a polemical strategy, marking as you go how he responds to prizing antiquity and disparaging the present.
- Copy out judgment sentences and parallel constructions, and compare their tone with that of other chapters of Lunheng.
- If you have a standard edition of Lunheng at hand, compare the chapter’s position to avoid mistaking a single chapter for the whole book.
About the publisher
Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 宣汉篇第五十七
FAQ
What problem does “Xuanhan” mainly discuss?
Do I need to read other chapters of Lunheng before this one?
Can this 2024 printing be used as a textual basis?
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About the author
Wang Chong (27–c. 97), courtesy name Zhongren, was a native of Shangyu in Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). A thinker, literary critic, and atheist of the Eastern Han, he entered the Imperial Academy in Luoyang in his youth and studied under Ban Biao; later he left office, stayed at home, and devoted himself to writing. His representative work, the eighty-five-chapter Lunheng (Balanced Inquiries), criticizes Chenwei superstition and the theory of interactions between Heaven and humanity, advocates a naturalist theory of qi, and stands as an important representative of Han-dynasty materialist thought. Wang Chong valued evidence and analysis in his writing, often developing arguments through questions and debates in a plain but sharp style. The collection holds sixty-nine of his works, including such pieces as Shizhi pian, Wenkong pian, Ziran pian, Daoxu pian, Duizuo pian, and Hanwen pian, covering philosophy, social criticism, and literary appreciation. He championed independent thinking and opposed blind submission to authority, exerting a lasting influence on later thought and literary criticism.
