Born in Gansu Province, Wang Fu was a studious and knowledgeable man of humble birth.
Nowadays, scholars have begun to attach importance to him, but the study is confined by the lack of historical records.
In the reign of the Emperor Huan of Han, Wang Fu began to compose Qianfu Lun.
Although Qianfu Lun was changed and misunderstood during the process of transmission, famous scholars rectified the faults and translated it into modern Chinese.
Since agriculture had been neglected after Zhangdi, Wang Fu explained his economic ideas as a policy of physiocracy, the restriction of trade (重农抑商) and taking farmers’ time seriously (为民爱日).
The teaching of 'paramount necessity' and bringing this with the farm occupies a central part in his political motive.