|topic= will aid in categorization.Content in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:淮南子]]; see its history for attribution.{{Translated|zh|淮南子}} to the talk page.The Huainanzi is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139 BCE. The Huainanzi blends Chinese folk religion, Taoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including theories such as yin and yang and Wu Xing theories.
Huainanzi
淮南子
Literal meaning
[The Writings of] the Huainan Masters
Transcriptions
Huáinánzǐ
Hwainantzyy
Huai2-nan2 tzŭ3
Wàaih-nàahm-jí
Waai4-naam4-zi2
Huâi-lâm-tsú
Hweaj-nom-tzí
*[ɢ]ʷˤrij nˤ[ə]m tsəʔ
The Huainanzi's essays are all connected to one primary goal: attempting to define the necessary conditions for perfect socio-political order.[1] It concludes that perfect societal order derives mainly from a perfect ruler, and the essays are compiled in such a way as to serve as a handbook for an enlightened sovereign and his court.[1]
In quantitative terms, the Huainanzi has major influences from the Zhuangzi and Lüshi Chunqiu, and to a lesser extent the Laozi and Han Feizi, but glosses and opposes Han Fei's combination of Shang Yang and Shen Buhai ("Chinese Legalism") along penal lines.[2]
Scholars are reasonably certain regarding the date of composition for the Huainanzi. Both the Book of Han and Records of the Grand Historian record that when Liu An paid a state visit to his nephew the Emperor Wu of Han in 139 BC, he presented a copy of his "recently completed" book in twenty-one chapters. Recent research shows that Chapters 1, 2, and 21 of the Huainanzi were performed at the imperial court.[3]
The Huainanzi is an eclectic compilation of chapters or essays that range across topics of religion, history, astronomy, geography, philosophy, science, metaphysics, nature, and politics. It discusses many pre-Han schools of thought, especially the Huang–Lao form of religious Daoism, and contains more than 800 quotations from Chinese classics. The textual diversity is apparent from the chapter titles (tr. Le Blanc, 1985, 15–16):
Number
Name
Reading
Meaning
1
原道訓
Yuandao
Searching out Dao (Tao)
2
俶真訓
Chuzhen
Beginning of Reality
3
天文訓
Tianwen
Patterns of Heaven
4
墜形訓
Zhuixing
Forms of Earth
5
時則訓
Shize
Seasonal Regulations
6
覽冥訓
Lanming
Peering into the Obscure
7
精神訓
Jingshen
Seminal Breath and Spirit
8
本經訓
Benjing
Fundamental Norm
9
主術訓
Zhushu
Craft of the Ruler
10
繆稱訓
Miucheng
On Erroneous Designations
11
齊俗訓
Qisu
Placing Customs on a Par
12
道應訓
Daoying
Responses of Dao
13
氾論訓
Fanlun
A Compendious Essay
14
詮言訓
Quanyan
An Explanatory Discourse
15
兵略訓
Binglue
On Military Strategy
16
說山訓
Shuoshan
Discourse on Mountains
17
說林訓
Shuolin
Discourse on Forests
18
人間訓
Renjian
In the World of Man
19
脩務訓
Youwu
Necessity of Training
20
泰族訓
Taizu
Grand Reunion
21
要略
Yaolue
Outline of the Essentials
Some Huainanzi passages are philosophically significant, for instance, this combination of Five Phases and Daoist themes.
When the lute-tuner strikes the kung note [on one instrument], the kung note [on the other instrument] responds: when he plucks the chiao note [on one instrument], the chiao note [on the other instrument] vibrates. This results from having corresponding musical notes in mutual harmony. Now, [let us assume that] someone changes the tuning of one string in such a way that it does not match any of the five notes, and by striking it sets all twenty-five strings resonating. In this case there has as yet been no differentiation as regards sound; it just happens that that [sound] which governs all musical notes has been evoked. Thus, he who is merged with Supreme Harmony is beclouded as if dead-drunk, and drifts about in its midst in sweet contentment, unaware how he came there; engulfed in pure delight as he sinks to the depths; benumbed as he reaches the end, he is as if he had not yet begun to emerge from his origin. This is called the Great Merging. (chapter 6, tr. Le Blanc 1985:138)
Translations that focus on individual chapters include:
