The Soul of Pei Wei's Chongyou Philosophy

Pei Wei (267–300), courtesy name Yimin, was from Wenxi in Hedong and a renowned philosopher and politician of the Western Jin dynasty. He was born into the prestigious Pei clan of Hedong. His father, Pei Xiu, was a founding statesman of the Western Jin and an eminent geographer. Brilliant and widely learned from childhood, Pei Wei was also skilled in medicine and renowned for his refined character and broad-mindedness. His contemporaries praised him as “a forest and marsh of eloquence.” He held positions including Palace Attendant to the Crown Prince, Regular Mounted Attendant, and Director of the Imperial College, eventually rising to Grand Master of the Left and becoming an important court official. In response to the vogue for metaphysical discourse in the early Western Jin, he took a distinctive stance in his Treatise on the Exaltation of Existence, criticizing the “esteem for nonbeing” and arguing that “being” is the origin of the world. He emphasized practical statecraft and the preservation of ritual institutions. His philosophy pioneered the “Exaltation of Being” school within Wei-Jin metaphysics and profoundly influenced later thinkers such as Guo Xiang. He was eventually killed in political struggles after refusing to attach himself to Sima Lun, Prince of Zhao. He was only thirty-four. Though his life was brief, his intellectual achievements were remarkable, making him an indispensable figure in the history of Wei-Jin philosophy.