Huainanzi

Author: Wang Jiehong
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Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The Huainanzi is a grand and richly comprehensive philosophical and political treatise written in the early Western Han Dynasty by Liu An and his gathered scholars. The book consists of twenty-one chapters, with the twenty-first chapter, Yao Lüe, serving as an introduction to the purpose of the book and summaries of each chapter. Except for Yao Lüe, each chapter is prefixed with "Xun," meaning the explanation and interpretation of various theoretical viewpoints. Based on Liu Wendi's Collected Explanations of Huainanzi Honglie, this book selects six chapters of Huainanzi, with each volume including the original text, annotations, and translation. Dao Yuan Xun explores the essence of heaven, earth, and all things, serving as a fundamental concept throughout the book. Jing Shen Xun provides a comprehensive discussion on the nature of life. Zhu Shu Xun elaborates on the strategies and methods by which a ruler governs the state and controls his ministers. In Miao Cheng Xun, the author, while adhering to Daoist thought, extensively quotes from the I Ching, Book of Songs, Book of Documents, and Book of Rites, fully affirming Confucian concepts such as virtue, benevolence, and righteousness. Qian Yan Xun interprets the concept of non-action in Daoism. Ren Jian Xun primarily discusses the dialectical relationships between fortune and misfortune, success and failure, gain and loss, advantage and disadvantage, as well as gain and giving, with a special emphasis on the mutual transformation between opposing sides. Based on Liu Wendi's Collected Explanations of Huainanzi Honglie, each volume includes the original text, annotations, and translation. The annotations of this book, drawing on the research of predecessors, strive to be concise and to the point; the translations primarily adopt a literal approach, adhering to the principle of faithfulness to the original text, with the aim of reflecting the artistic style of the original work.