Sui and Tang · Scholar and Philosopher

Wang Tong 王通

Wáng Tōng

Attested AD 584 - AD 617

Passages: 2
Chapters: 2
Histories: 2

Overview

Wang Tong was a scholar and Philosopher.

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 584 to AD 617 王通
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 206
AD 600 to AD 617 王通氏言
Dated from the passage context · History of Liao 58, passage 10

Key source chapters

History of Liao, Chapter 58 Volume 58 Treatises 28: Ceremonial Guards 4 1 passage
History of Song, Chapter 436 Volume 436 Biographies 195: Confucian Scholars 6: Chen Liang, Zheng Qiaolinting, Li Daochuan 1 passage

Places and affiliations

Polity Sui 隋 · Relation Lived under
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 206

Works and attributed material

Shun toured four peaks with few guards and light levies
Speech · Speaker
Directly stated · History of Liao 58, passage 10

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · History of Song 436, passage 206

References in the histories

History of Liao, Chapter 58Volume 58 Treatises 28: Ceremonial Guards 4 · 1 passage

王通氏言，舜歲遍四嶽，民不告勞，營衛省、征求寡耳。 Wang Tong observed that even when Emperor Shun toured the four sacred peaks every year, the people did not complain of exhaustion, because his camp guards were few and his levies light.

History of Song, Chapter 436Volume 436 Biographies 195: Confucian Scholars 6: Chen Liang, Zheng Qiaolinting, Li Daochuan · 1 passage

其學自孟子後惟推王通，嘗曰：「研窮義理之精微，辨析古今之同異，原心於秒忽，較禮於分寸，以積累為工，以涵養為正，麵盎背，則於諸儒誠有愧焉。 After Mencius he ranked no scholar above Wang Tong, and he once remarked, "To plumb principle to its finest grain, sift past from present, trace the mind in a flash and weigh ritual to the inch, to labor by accumulation and stand upright by nurture, with glowing face and bent back, would leave one ashamed before the Confucians.