The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China

1003 Pages·2010·5.307 MB·English

by  An Liu, Harold D. Roth, Andrew Meyer, Sarah A. Queen

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Liu An
John S. Major, formerly professor of history Jacket
C
at Dartmouth College, is an independent ompiled by scholars at the court of Major, The Huainanzi
praise for
scholar and writer. He is the author of Heav- Liu An, king of Huainan, in the sec- Contact: Lisa Hamm
en and Earth in Early Han Thought: Chap- ond century b.c.e., The Huainanzi Columbia University Press
ters Three, Four, and Five of the Huainanzi The Huainanzi T is a tightly organized, sophisticated 212 459-0600 x 7105
and the author, coauthor, or editor of almost articulation of Western Han philosophy
thirty other books, including Defining Chu: h and statecraft. Outlining “the entire body trim: 6.125 x 9.25
Image and Reality in Ancient China. of knowledge required for a contemporary 4-color process only
e monarch to rule successfully and well,” the Gloss lam.
Sarah A. Queen, professor of history at Con- text emphasizes rigorous self-cultivation and
necticut College, is the author of From “Long dismissed as a ‘syncretic’ or ‘miscellaneous’ encyclopedia of little mental discipline, brilliantly synthesizing All art is live and in position
Chronicle to Canon: The Hermeneutics of intellectual interest, the unjustly neglected Huainanzi, composed H for readers past and present the full spec-
the Spring and Autumn, According to Tung under the auspices of Liu An, prince of Huainan, has now been trans- trum of early Chinese thought.
Chung-shu. Her current work includes lated into English by a dedicated team of experts. The work’s ‘root and u
a translation and study of the Luxuriant The Huainanzi locates the key to successful
branch’ structure; its comprehensive vision that integrates man, Heav-
Gems of the Spring and Autumn (with John a rule in a balance of broad knowledge, dili-
en, and Earth; its foundations in Daoist cosmology and the ineffable
S. Major) and an edited volume, Liu An’s gent application, and the penetrating wis-
Vision of Empire: New Perspectives on the dao (Way); and its rich poetic language and philosophical innovation i dom of a sage. It is a unique and creative
Huainanzi (with Michael Puett). have all been brilliantly captured. An extraordinary achievement and a n synthesis of Daoist classics, such as the
major contribution to the history of early Chinese thought, this book Laozi and the Zhuangzi; works associated
Andrew Seth Meyer, assistant professor of his- a with the Confucian tradition, such as the
was read with great pleasure and often surprise. I recommend it with
tory at Brooklyn College, is the author of Changes, the Odes, and the Documents; and
the utmost enthusiasm.”
n
several articles, including “The Sunzi bing- a wide range of other foundational philo-
fa as History and Theory.” His current proj- sophical and literary texts from the Mozi to
ects are To Rule All Under Heaven, a history Robin D. S. Yates, McGill University, z the Hanfeizi.
of the Warring States period (481–221 b.c.e.), author of Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huang-lao,
i
and a translation of the Wenzi (with Harold and Yin-yang in Han China The product of twelve years of scholarship,
D. Roth). this remarkable translation preserves The
t M Huainanzi’s special rhetorical features, such
r a
Harold D. Roth, professor of religious stud- an jo as parallel prose and verse, and showcases a
ies and East Asian studies at Brown Univer- sl r, Q compositional technique that conveys the
sity, is the author or editor of four books and a u The Huainanzi work’s powerful philosophical appeal. This
t e
more than forty scholarly articles. His books or en path-breaking volume will have a transfor-
include The Textual History of the Huai-nan s , M mative impact on the field of early Chinese
& e
tzu and Original Tao: Inward Training and translations from the asian classics ed ye intellectual history and will be of great inter-
the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism. it r, r est to scholars and students alike.
o o
r t
s h
Liu An, King of Huainan
ISBN: 978-0-231-14204-5
jacket image
a Guide to the theory and Practice of Government in early han china
Courtesy of the Han Yangling Archaeological Museum,
9 780231 142045
Shaanxi, China
John s. Major sarah a. Queen andrew seth Meyer harold d. roth
jacket design printed in the u.s.a. • • •
Columbia
Lisa Hamm columbia university press / new york www.cup.columbia.edu
translators and editors
The Huainanzi
translations from the asian classics
translations from the asian classics
Editorial Board
Wm. Theodore de Bary, Chair
Paul Anderer
Irene Bloom
Donald Keene
George A. Saliba
Haruo Shirane
Wei Shang
Burton Watson
The Huainanzi
a guide to the theory and Practice of government
in early han china
Liu An, King of Huainan
Translated and edited by
John S. Major, Sarah A. Queen, Andrew Seth Meyer, and Harold D. Roth,
with additional contributions by Michael Puett and Judson Murray
columbia university Press
new york
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2010 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Huainan zi. English
The Huainanzi : a guide to the theory and practice of government in early Han China / Liu An,
King of Huainan [. . . [et al.]] ; translated and edited by John S. Major . . . [et al.], with additional
contributions by Michael Puett and Judson Murray.
p. cm. — (Translations from the Asian classics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-231-14204-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
I. Liu, An, 179–122 b.c. II. Major, John S. III. Title. IV. Title: Guide to the theory and practice of
government in early Han China. V. Series.
bl1900.h822e5 2010
181'.114—dc22
2009019565
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that
may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
For our children

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Originating in the Way 41
2. Activating the Genuine 77
3. Celestial Patterns 109
4. Terrestrial Forms 149
5. Seasonal Rules 173
6. Surveying Obscurities 207
7. Quintessential Spirit 233
8. The Basic Warp 261
9. The Ruler’s Techniques 289
10. Profound Precepts 341
viii contents
11. Integrating Customs 391
12. Responses of the Way 429
13. Boundless Discourses 483
14. Sayings Explained 527
15. An Overview of the Military 573
16. and 17.
A Mountain of Persuasions and A Forest of Persuasions 617
18. Among Others 713
19. Cultivating Effort 757
20. The Exalted Lineage 789
21. An Overview of the Essentials 841
Appendix A. Key Chinese Terms and Their Translations 869
Appendix B. Categorical Terms 921
Appendix C. A Concise Textual History of the Huainanzi
and a Bibliography of Huainanzi Studies 935
Index 953
acknowledgments
We owe a particular debt of gratitude to three colleagues who participated
actively in this translation project. Michael Puett and Judson Murray served
as cotranslators of chapters 13 and 21, respectively, and they also participated in many
of our team meetings and online conversations and made many valuable contribu-
tions. Jay Sailey’s active and enthusiastic participation in the early stages of our work
helped get the project off to a good start, and his continuing interest in our work
provided welcome moral support.
William Boltz’s work of determining the ending rhymes for sentences enabled
us to proceed with our method of formatting the translations so as to preserve such
distinctive features as parallel prose and verse. Jung-Ping Yuan and Bo Lawergren
provided much-appreciated advice about ancient Chinese stringed instruments.
Similarly, we thank Scott Cook and Dan Lusthaus for lending us their expertise on
musical matters. We thank Martin Kern of Princeton University for sharing with us
his penetrating insights into the structure and rhetoric of chapter 21 of the Huai-
nanzi, and Michael Nylan of the University of California at Berkeley for her com-
ments on the structure of chapter 7. We are grateful also to Charles Le Blanc, Rémi
Mathieu, and their co-workers on the complete French translation of the Huainanzi
for their collegiality and goodwill. Our work has also benefited enormously from the
textual labors of several modern scholars; we would like to express our gratitude to
Zhang Shuangdi, Chen Yiping, and He Ning for their critical editions; to Kusuyama
Haruki for his critical edition and Japanese translation; and to D. C. Lau and his as-
sociates in the ICS Ancient Chinese Text Concordance Series project at the Chinese