WANG BI (226–249 CE) was the scion of an important Shandong clan with great intellectual ambitions and "over eighty members" who reached the highest echelon of power in the preceding Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The collapse of this dynasty resulted in the division of the country into three competing states, as well as the collapse of the state-sponsored and privately sponsored educational system, together with the authority of official teaching. It was chance that put arguably the richest and most intellectually diverse manuscript library to survive the conflagration and civil war of the collapsing Han dynasty into Wang's possession. His talents thus flourished during a rare and short moment in history, a time when philosophical originality and iconoclasm were much appreciated and youthful genius was revered. Wang Bi was spurred on by a rich and open competition, and a government reform project that was guided from 240 to...