writing in his Lun Tian (Discourse on the Heavens) of 274 AD that supported Wang's theory by arguing the inferior Yin (moon) could never obstruct the superior Yang (sun), Liu was still outside of the mainstream accepted Confucian tradition. The Song Dynasty (960-1279) polymathic scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) supported the old theory of a spherical sun and moon by using his own reasoning about eclipses, which he explained were due to the moon and the sun coming into obstruction of one another. The Song dynasty Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200) also supported this theory in his writing. Although Wang Chong was right about the water cycle and other aspects of early science, his stern opposition to mainstream Confucian thought at the time made him a skeptic of all their theories, including eclipses (the Confucian-accepted model being correct). See also Chinese philosophy Yigupai Wang Chung Notes References de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. . Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. Zhou, Wenying, "Wang Chong". Encyclopedia of China (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed. Zhang, Shaokang, "Wang Chong". Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed. Xu, Qiduan, "Wang Chong". Encyclopedia of China (Physics Edition), 1st ed. External links Wang Chong entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Wang Ch'ung (humanistictexts.org) Wang Ch'ung (Peter J. King) Lun Hêng(论衡),works by Wang Ch'ung, PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS OF WANG CH'UNG,TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE AND ANNOTATED ALFRED FORKE 27 births 1st-century Chinese philosophers 1st-century Chinese astronomers Chinese meteorologists Chinese naturalists Han dynasty essayists Han dynasty philosophers Han dynasty science writers People from Shangyu Philosophers from Zhejiang Scientists from Shaoxing Writers from Shaoxing Year of death unknown