Wang Ch’uan-shan. Born Oct. 7, 1619; died Feb. 18, 1692. Chinese materialist philosopher and author of many works. Participant in the armed struggle against the Manchu conquerors.
Wang Fu-chih believed that matter was eternal and opposed the Buddhist doctrine of the illusoriness of the world. As an adherent of the idea of the absolute movement and development of the world, he thought that things do not originate and get destroyed but only “leave and arrive,” “are gathered and dispersed,” and “become dark and light.” He established the “theory of the daily new birth of human nature” whereby he interpreted the essence of human nature as something inherent to biology. Wang Fuchih criticized feudalism and demanded an equal distribution of good and evil in society; his views were progressive in the context of 17th-century China.