Wang Chong is an outstanding thinker of China in the early Eastern Han Dynasty with materialism and critical spirit.
Wang Chong's childhood, his father died. Wang Chong strain every nerve the care of his mother, then to the capital, into the imperial college learning, Baidang when famous scholar Ban Biao as a teacher. He likes to read widely, good at grasping the key problem, so progress very quickly.
Wang Chong reading very much attention, comprehension and memory ability is very strong, so long as read, main content can remember the book, or even be able to recite some excellent chapters. However, the family poor, can not afford to buy many books, in order to meet the needs of be like hunger and thirst to curiosity, Wang Chong came up with a good idea. There are many bookstore at Luoyang street, Wang decided to bookstore as his "library", after eating breakfast every day, he would bring dry food, to the bookstore to read books for sale. Regardless of seasons, rain or fine, he read a book and a book, ran a family's bookstore. In this way, he finally read all classes of authors of the important works, master the basic spirit of the book.
Because Wang Chong was born poor, so the understanding of natural phenomena and social phenomena, basically is from the point of view of common people's actual life situation. After he read all classes of authors of the main works, for some to serve the ruling class's idealism preaching was dissatisfied, determined to give severe criticism. Then focus on independent thinking, a handwritten book. In order not to waste time, do not interrupt the train of thought, he in the residential doors, windows, pillars on the stove, even the toilet, resting a pen, paper, think a bit, write a bit, go to where, where wrote. After a long period of efforts, he finally became full of critical spirit, brilliant shine with the materialist "Lun Heng".