Huainanzi - Handbook on power, politics, and autonomy

In 139 BCE, the Imperial Kingsman Liu An, King of Huainan, presented the young Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty an encyclopedic book, today called the Huainanzi, literally meaning the Master of Huainan. The book drew from a wide body of sources, some Taoist, others Confucian, and even further afield from the legalist corpus. The text was written only a few generations after the ascension of the Han Dynasty, following the chaotic collapse of the Qin. During this early period of the Han Dynasty, questions had raged about what the best way to organise government and rule the empire was. Advice came from all corners of the Chinese intellectual world, which saw in the early Han Empire an eclectic mix, a softening but retention of some of the harsh legalist legacies of the Qin, the resumption of the archaic rituals of the Zhou as recommended by the Confucians, and adoptions of the model of a sage emperor embodied by Laozi and the cosmological importance usurped through the association with the Yellow Emperor of the mythic past. This eclecticism was characteristic of the intense ideological battles between different factions within the court, ranging from the legalists who sought to centralise power, to the Confucians who sought to decentralise it. This ideological battle in the court was mirrored by increasing physical combat as the Han court was beset by rebellions almost as soon as was established, and successive emperors had to deal with increasingly powerful kings, local rulers who swore fealty to the emperor whilst central power waned. It is in the context of these conflicts, and in the earlier rule of the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen, two generations before Emperor Wu, that the Huainanzi emerges. At the turn of the 2nd century CE, the Kingdom of Huainan was one of the local fiefdoms which had been competing with the central court for power, and was ruled by the brother of Emperor Wen, called Liu Heng. In 174 BCE, dissatisfied with having been passed over for the position of emperor, Liu Heng rebelled against the central government, but failed and then died on the road to exile, while many of his supporters were executed. Although the kingdom was temporarily disbanded, Emperor Wen must have held some regret as to the fate of his brother, because he eventually re-established a smaller version of the kingdom and conferred it on his brother's son, Liu An, in 164 BCE. Emperor Wen gave way to Emperor Jing, and in 154 BCE, seven kings launched an unsuccessful revolt against the central court. However, Liu An remained faithful to the emperor. Emperor Jing, flush with success, reduced the power of the kingdoms, but the debate between imperial control and regional autonomy was far from over. It was in the tension of Emperor Jing's reign that the majority of the Huainanzi was probably composed. In 141 BCE, the emperor was succeeded by Emperor Wu, a young man of 15 years of age, still dominated by his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dao. Early on in his reign, it was not known whether or not he would continue the centralizing efforts of Emperor Jing, or return to the earlier Zhou style of decentralized autonomy. It is in this context that Liu An, by this time recognized as an elder statesman and a patron of learning, presents the Huainanzi to Emperor Wu. The book was intended to impress the young ruler with a vision of empire which sought to achieve a balance between the autonomy of his own kingdom and the authority of the emperor. However, despite the compelling story surrounding the text, the work appears to have been composed under the patronage of Liu An rather than as a work of his own pen. The text is broken into 21 chapters, although the first eight are the so-called root chapters, which provide a theoretical basis for the Wei or Dao, whilst the next 12 chapters provide the branches, which give guidance as to the application and examples of the way in which human affairs should be conducted. It finally finishes with what could be described as almost an introductory chapter. The book opens with a cosmology grounded in the Wei, Dao, and its potency, De, derived from the traditions of Laozi in the Daoist text, the Tao Te Ching. This provides a metaphysical basis for the text and also includes an in-depth explanation of how sages are able to use their insights into these foundations to bring about peace and harmony to the realm. This is followed with a discussion of themes such as the precarious nature of life, the importance of balancing with nature, and ancient utopias which have been degraded throughout time as a result of human grasping, and it seems these ideas are derived from similar thoughts within the Zhuangzi, the second great work of the Daoist canon. These Daoist themes are then blended with the astrological ideas present in the school of naturalism as far back as the I Ching about the interconnectedness of all things in the cosmos. This then links back to a mythical geography and history derived from the mythopoetic stories of a post-flood China, and an explanation of the natural seasons derived from the school of naturalists' ideas concerning the five elements and their alternating phases, linked with ritual, actions, and attire. Finally, rounding out this theory of the physical world is a discussion of Ganying, a ripple through the all-penetrating Qi which brings about cosmic justice in a manner somewhat reminiscent of karma in the Indic tradition. Having tackled metaphysics and the physical world, the book then turns to the third aspect of the cosmos and the part which will be the focus of the remainder of the text, humans. The great sages of history are lauded as examples for all humanity, both in their ability to draw from the internal potency whilst being indifferent to the external world of life and death. With this basis, the first eight so-called root chapters, the rest of the book then goes on to provide a variety of pieces of advice concerning the running of state. This includes a plethora of aphorisms, guidance, and sayings harvested from a variety of sources, Taoist, Legalist, Confucian, and even further afield. For instance, chapter 15 is called an overview of the military and draws heavily on the earlier military literature of the warring states period. The final chapter, called an overview of the essentials, acts almost as a summary and synthesis of the rest of the work. It has been hypothesized by some translators that this chapter was perhaps penned by Liu An himself as an introduction to the text as a whole. It was perhaps recited orally in court during the presentation of the work to Emperor Wu before being appended to the end of the book to serve as a postscript. It takes the form of a fu, a style of rhapsodic poetry popular during the Han Empire. In its conclusion, Liu An argues that the uniqueness of this text is that it represents a comprehensive culmination of the investigations and writings stretching from the Zhou to the contemporary period and rather self-confidently proclaims that this text, the Huainanzi, has surpassed the historical particularism and contextualism of these previous works to become an inexhaustible source of guidance concerning all matters theoretical and practical. One of the most difficult questions that has surrounded the Huainanzi is where exactly to situate it within the tradition of Han thought. Is it an eclectic text like the Shizi? Is it a Taoist work drawing on the traditions of the or is it a part of the so-called Huang Lao school, a mixture of Taoist and legalist traditions whose actual existence is a point of scholarly debate. It should be noted that with recent discussions of the text, the validity of this question and the value that it brings to dissecting this text has come under fire. It is clear that the Huainanzi draws on a variety of traditions but itself has a unique position and doctrine to sell. The Confucian and legalist thinkers of the age saw the deterioration of the state as a result of disloyalty and ambition of the royal family members towards the son of heaven, the emperor. However, the authors of the Huainanzi come at this problem from the other direction, seeing the iron grip of central rule with a disregard for kinship The text's commitment to decentralization can be seen as an extension of the theme of incorporating and appreciating multiple points of view in the conduct of statecraft. However, it is not merely a form of relativism but an argument that all points of view have a role in the establishment of order, an order which is hierarchical and programmatic in nature. It is through the integration of many sources into a complete whole that the Huainanzi argues to be a text of sacrosanct nature for all time, ready to provide advice to the next son of heaven.