Commentary on the Huainanzi 淮南鸿烈解

Annotated by Xu Shen and Gao You of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

It consists of twenty-eight volumes and is included in the Taiqing (Supreme Purity) section of the Daozang (Daoist Canon).

Commentary on the Huainanzi

Liu An, the Prince of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty, assembled scholars in his retinue to compile a philosophical work, which was divided into inner, outer and middle parts. Its twenty-one inner chapters are the world-famous Huainan Honglie, also known as Huainanzi. This book is rich in content and elegant in diction. It claims of itself that "it examines the heavens above, measures the earth below, and penetrates all principles in between"; "it masters the ways of ancient and modern times, arranges the order of ethics, synthesizes the essence of all things, and returns to a single origin, so as to lay out the principles of governance and establish the framework of royal affairs." Its content incorporates the thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, the School of Names, Legalism, the Yin-Yang School and other schools, while generally inclining toward Taoism. It advocates naturalness and non-action, and upholds grasping the essentials and fundamentals to govern the state and nurture life. This embodies the ideological tenet of the Huang-Lao School in the Han Dynasty, which governs human affairs in accordance with the way of heaven. This book has always been cherished by scholars, and later Laozi-derived Taoism was also influenced by it. Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty wrote the inner and outer chapters of Baopuzi (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity), drawing much inspiration from Huainanzi. During the Han Dynasty, there were two annotated versions of this book: Huainan Honglie Xiangu by Xu Shen and Huainan Honglie Jie by Gao You. After the Northern Song Dynasty, the annotations of Xu and Gao were confused. The existing Daozang version was originally titled "Recorded and Presented by Xu Shen, Libationer of the Grand Commandant", but in fact, the first thirteen chapters are Gao You’s annotations, and the last eight chapters are Xu Shen’s annotations.

Liu Wendian, a scholar of modern times, wrote Huainan Honglie Jijie (Collected Annotations on the Huainanzi), which is the most comprehensive edition.