In Han Dynasty, Dong Zhong-Shu's thought could be summed up in two phrases,- "examining names" and "action for effects,"- while Wang Chong's also in two phrases,- "checking names" and "overcoming absurdities." Both were "observing names." The difference was that the former was of imperial statecraft, and the latter was of civil scholarship. This difference was related with a historical watershed of traditional Chinese thought. It can help us understand why all thoughts before the Eastem Han Dynasty were of imperial statecraft, while those thereafter were of civil scholarship.