Wang Tingxiang Quotes
Wang Tingxiang, known as Wang Junchuan, was a Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher of the mid-Ming dynasty, a senior official of the imperial court, and the most original Confucian materialist of his age. His Yashu and Shenyan mounted a sustained critique of the Cheng-Zhu doctrine of principle as something prior to and independent of qi, the material energy of the world, defending instead a strict naturalist position in which qi is the only ultimate reality and principle is its discernible pattern. The quotes below are attributed to Wang Tingxiang, organized by topic.
Wang Tingxiang on Knowledge
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Attributed to Wang Tingxiang:
“He who studies principle without studying qi studies a shadow.”
Wang Tingxiang on Nature
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Attributed to Wang Tingxiang:
“Qi is the only reality; principle is its pattern, not its source.”
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Attributed to Wang Tingxiang:
“Heaven and earth do not stand outside qi; they are its most comprehensive forms.”
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Attributed to Wang Tingxiang:
“What does not move is not real; movement is the proof of being.”
Wang Tingxiang on Truth
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Attributed to Wang Tingxiang:
“The Cheng brothers separated what should never have been separated; we must put it back together.”