1-3/4˝ text bulk 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