Thinker · TH-0427
Wang Bi
Wang Bi was a Chinese philosopher of the Wei state who died at about twenty-three yet became one of the most influential interpreters in…
Wang Bi was a Chinese philosopher of the Wei state who died at about twenty-three yet became one of the most influential interpreters in Chinese intellectual history. A leading figure of Xuanxue, the 'learning of the mysterious', he wrote commentaries on the Laozi and the Book of Changes that shaped how both were read for centuries. Through his reading of the Laozi he developed the view that non-being (wu) is the root of being (you): the many determinate things depend on what is itself without form or name.
Key ideas
- Non-being (wu) is the root and source of being (you).
- What is without form or name underlies all things with form and name.
- Words point to images and images to meaning; once meaning is grasped, words and images can be forgotten.
- The sage embodies non-being and does not cling to particular things.
Major works
- Commentary on the Laozi (Laozi zhu 老子注)
- Commentary on the Book of Changes (Zhouyi zhu 周易注)
- Outline of the Book of Changes (Zhouyi lüeli 周易略例)
In the conversation
- Question How can you talk about non-being without turning it into a something?
- Discussion Guo Xiang said things are ‘self-so’. Does that mean uncaused, or caused by everything?
- Question What does ziran, “self-so”, actually mean, and why do people call it the centre of Daoism?
- Question How did Buddhist ideas first get into Chinese, and why did Daoist words matter so much?
In the Coordinates
The questions of philosophy where Wang Bi takes a place, from The Coordinates of Thought.
- 1.1 Ontology What is there?