The Book of Master Yin Wen 尹文子

The Hanshu·Yiwenzhi (Book of Han·Treatise on Literature and Arts) recorded one chapter of the Yin Wenzi in the School of Names category; it is a work by later followers of the Mohist School during the Warring States Period, and the original text has been lost.

The existing version of the Yin Wenzi, consisting of two chapters, is an apocryphal work compiled under a pseudonym by scholars of the Wei and Jin dynasties. The version preserved in the Daozang (Daoist Canon) has two volumes and is included in the Taiqing (Supreme Purity) section. This book is divided into two chapters: The Great Dao I and The Great Dao II, whose core purport is based on the thoughts of the Huang-Lao School and the School of Names and Actualities. It extensively expounds that the great Dao is formless, advocates examining forms to define names, and regards benevolence, righteousness, rituals, music, names, laws, punishment and rewards as the eight techniques for governing the world. Gao Sisun, in his Zilüe (Brief Notes on Masters), criticized this book for embracing the thoughts of the Huang-Lao School while incorporating those of Shen Buhai and Han Fei, noting that it "is not purely rooted in Taoism". Its ideological context also echoes the dialectical propositions in the Laozi, reflecting the integration of multiple schools of thought during the pre-Qin period.