Lü Shiyuan. Huainanzi: Classical Masterpieces Popular Library

Author: Lü Buwei, Liu An, et al. Edited by Gao You, proofread by Yang Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The Lüshi Chunqiu and the Huainanzi were respectively compiled by Lü Buwei, the Chancellor of the Qin Dynasty, and Liu An, the King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty, with contributions from their guests. The entire works synthesize ideas from various schools of thought, lacking a unified system. However, what fascinates modern readers is the rich collection of ancient historical and cultural materials in these two works: numerous myths and legends, lost anecdotes from ancient history, preserved sayings of predecessors, ancient scientific knowledge, and long-lost schools of thought. The writing in these two works is concise in narrative and clear in reasoning; the Huainanzi, in particular, is renowned for its elegant and vivid language. Both the Lüshi Chunqiu and the Huainanzi had annotations as early as the Han Dynasty, and the current plain text edition is intended for popularization. The base text for the former is Chen Qiyou’s Collected Annotations to the Lüshi Chunqiu, while the latter uses Liu Wentian’s Collected Explanations to the Huainanzi. The punctuation and division of chapters in this book follow Chen’s edition for the Lüshi Chunqiu, while for the Huainanzi, Yang Jian referenced previous annotations for punctuation and division. This book is included in the Classical Masterpieces Popularization Library series by Yue Lu Book Society.