The Huainanzi

by An Liu

  Chapter 17 begins with three short analogies cautioning the reader that “just because something is suitable for a particular time is not enough to make it valuable [always].” This brief preamble reiterates an argument appearing elsewhere in the text: that the standards of ancient times—things that were suitable to a particular era, time, or circumstance—do not enjoy eternal relevance or universal validity. Even though an earthen dragon is made in times of drought and a straw dog in times of epidemic, such things are “sovereign” only at those particular times. When the time passes, these things lose their efficacy. So, too, with words: certain words fit certain occasions; the same expression is not suitable to all occasions. One thus must choose one’s words judiciously, employing the right expressions for the context. One must employ the “sovereign” expression.

  To do so, chapters 16 and 17 have collected an astounding array of “persuasions,” exceeding in number and variety of topic all surviving collections that had been compiled before the Huainanzi was completed and surpassed only by the later Western Han collection, Liu Xiang’s Shuo yuan. Chapter 16 of the Huainanzi collects 162 sayings, and chapter 17 brings together 246. Some are accompanied by brief editorial comments that clarify their meaning in some way. These collections of persuasive oratory, with their titles suggesting the height of a mountain and the number and density of trees in a forest, indicate that together they represent a particular genre of persuasion. In fact, the various subjects addressed in these persuasions are just the point: they enable the reader to “wander in accord with Heaven and Earth” rather than be limited to “follow[ing] a path made by a solitary footprint or adher[ing] to instructions from a single perspective,” as chapter 21, “An Overview of the Essentials,” explains. We might speculate that armed with such a comprehensive collection, the reader would be equipped with a wide variety of “talking points” commensurate with every conceivable aspect of the Way and suitable for any oral debate or discussion.

  Sources

  The collections of persuasions most relevant to chapters 16 and 17 of the Huainanzi are the earlier Hanfeizi and later Shuo yuan. These texts help us understand how this particular genre of performative literature was collected and preserved through the ages. Chapters 22 and 23 of the Hanfeizi, “Shui lin shang” and “Shui lin xia” (A Forest of Persuasions, Parts 1 and 2), with the same title as chapter 16 of the Huainanzi, are the most pertinent here. The duplication of the title by the Huainanzi authors suggests that these chapters belong to the same genre of persuasive oratory and that Hanfeizi 22 and 23 are examples of such literature of which the Huainanzi authors were well aware.

  This chapter, and others in the Hanfeizi that preserve this genre of persuasive oratory, collects “persuasions” in various guises. The first genre, a more typical and longer form of persuasion characteristic of the Hanfeizi and other Warring States texts, generally is in the form of an anecdote with an oral element following a more or less set literary form. It usually consists of a narrative frame setting the scene, historical or mythical figures (often a holder of political power and a “persuader” trying to convince him of something), the pronouncement meant to persuade, and a response. As a kind of denouement, the response may take the form of verbal approval or disapproval or action indicating that the recipient of the persuasion has either embraced or rejected what has been proposed. The editorial comment that sometimes follows the persuasion proper shapes the persuasion along the philosophical lines intended by the author of the specific collection.2 The following excerpt from Hanfeizi 22, which revolves around the colorful and insatiable Earl Zhi, exemplifies this type of persuasion:

  Earl Zhi demanded territory from Viscount Huan of Wei. Viscount Huan of Wei did not yield it. Ren Zhang said: “Why do you not yield it to him?” Viscount Huan responded: “He is demanding territory from us for no reason. This is why I refused to yield it to him.” Ren Zhang responded: “If he demands territory without reason, neighboring states surely will grow fearful of him. If the earl’s desires increase without cease, the world surely will grow apprehensive of him. [But] if you give him territory [now], Earl Zhi will surely grow arrogant and slight his enemies so that neighboring states surely will grow fearful of him and form mutual alliances. If you rely on the troops of states forming mutual alliances to address a state that slights its enemies, Earl Zhi’s life will not be long. The Book of Zhou states: ‘When you desire to conquer, you must first assist; when you desire to take, you must first give.’ It would be best to give Earl Zhi territory and thereby feed his arrogance. Moreover, why would you hesitate to join with the rest of the world to conspire against the Zhi clan so that our state alone would become a target for Earl Zhi?” The Viscount responded: “Superb.” He then gave Earl Zhi a fief of ten thousand households. Earl Zhi was greatly pleased. Earl Zhi then demanded territory from [Viscount Xiang of] Zhao. [Viscount Xiang of] Zhao refused to grant it. Consequently Earl Zhi besieged Jinyang. The states of Hann and Wei plotted against Earl Zhi from beyond [Jinyang] while the state of Zhao responded to him from within [Jinyang], and Earl Zhi was ultimately destroyed.3

  The second common literary treatment of a persuasion is typically briefer and decontextualized. It is a short oral pronouncement, usually without a narrative frame or an identified speaker or listener.4 The point of these persuasive utterances seems to be their very commonplace character and unremarkable lineage. They appear to be a kind of public wisdom handed down through the ages, highly prized not because they derive from the mouth of the sages but because they capture enduring truths. What is recorded is a brief statement, often characterized by parallelism or rhyme that exhibits varying degrees of transparency to the modern reader. Some stand out for their pithiness or wittiness, while others appear to relate to quite banal aspects of the phenomenal world. Whatever the particular meaning might be, the didactic point to be extracted from the pronouncement is sometimes identified by an editorial comment that directly follows a given pronouncement. Examples of this shorter form of persuasive utterance may be found in such texts as the Hanfeizi’s chapter 23, “A Forest of Persuasions, Part 2” (Shui lin xia) and the Shuoyuan’s chapter 16, “A Thicket of Remarks” (Tan cong). The following are three such examples:

  Example 1

  Saying: “Among birds there is one called the cuckoo. It has a heavy head and a curved tail. When it is about to take water from the river, it inevitably falls on its head. Only when it flattens its wings with its mouth can it drink from the river.”

  Comment: “When people do not have enough to drink, they too must find their wings.”5

  Example 2

  Saying: “There is a type of worm called a ‘tapeworm.’ It has a single body and two mouths. When it struggles to get food, the two mouths bite one another so that each mouth kills the other and eventually the tapeworm kills itself.”

  Comment: “When ministers struggle over their affairs and forget the state, they all belong to the likes of a tapeworm.”6

  Example 3

  Saying: “When buildings are whitewashed and furniture is cleaned with water, then they are immaculate.”

  Comment: “Human conduct and character is just the same. When there is no place left to be whitewashed or cleaned, then faults are few.”7

  The sayings collected in chapters 16 and 17 of the Huainanzi resemble most closely this second (shorter) form of persuasive utterance and therefore comprise an important collection of such materials from the time between when the Hanfeizi and Shuoyuan collections were compiled. In fact, as the next example demonstrates, we find the same persuasive utterance used for different interpretive aims in these three collections:

  Hanfeizi 23

  Saying: “Eels resemble snakes; silkworms resemble caterpillars. When people see snakes, they become alarmed and frightened; when they see caterpillars, their hair stands on end. But fishermen hold eels and women pick up silkworms.”

  Comment: “Thus, where benefit resides, everyone resembles a Meng Ben or Zhuan Zhu [in their co
urage].”8

  Huainanzi 17.56

  The eel and the snake,

  the silkworm and the caterpillar—

  In appearance they belong to the same category. But how they are liked or disliked makes them different.

  Shuoyuan 16

  The eel is akin to the snake; the silkworm is akin to the caterpillar. When people see a caterpillar or snake, none fails to be personally alarmed. [Yet] women cultivate silkworms and fishermen handle eels. Why do they not loathe such things? Desiring to make a living, those who hunt fish must get wet, and those who hunt prey must hasten their pace, but not because they like to do so. It is due to the circumstances of the situation.9

  The Chapters in the Context of the Huainanzi as a Whole

  The existence of collections of shui from the Warring States period and the Western Han dynasty suggests that there was a clear demand for them from bureaucrats, advisers, teachers, and others who regularly offered lessons or advice to others and tried to influence their actions. We can think of such collections as handbooks for people who knew that they would be asked to speak on a regular basis. A modern analogy might be the many collections of jokes, anecdotes, and apt turns of phrase for masters of ceremony, toastmasters, and after-dinner speakers.

  But if we are correct in believing that the primary audience for the Huainanzi was the actual or aspiring ruler of a kingdom or an empire, it is necessary to ask about the value of a collection of persuasions for such a figure. A ruler might have been more likely to be moderating and listening to court debates than marshaling persuasions to make points of his own. For this highly selective audience, a ruler might want these collected shui on hand to shape his own participation in court debates, but he might also want to have them in mind as persuasions that he was likely to hear from debaters in his presence. That is, they should prepare him for stereotyped arguments that his advisers and other participants might use in court sessions, so he could distinguish genuinely new ideas from hackneyed talking points. In this context, the comment in “An Overview of the Essentials” that these persuasions

  skillfully and elegantly penetrate and bore open the blockages and obstructions of the many affairs

  and thoroughly and comprehensively penetrate and pierce the barriers and hindrances of the myriad things (21.2)

  takes on a subtle double meaning. The “blockages and obstructions” concerned might be the rhetorical obfuscations that debaters in the ruler’s own presence offered and that he could detect through his own familiarity with such stereotyped talking points.

  Of course, this effect is not limited to an imperial “audience of one.” Anyone who engages in oratory might benefit by adding to his rhetorical arsenal the persuasions collected in these two chapters, and he would also recognize when another speaker was using these same prepackaged arguments. Thus the use of such material was always a two-edged sword: Did these persuasions help a speaker be seen as a brilliant orator, or did they leave him open to a charge of using stale and stereotypical arguments? It would seem impossible to have one effect but not the other.

  A Note on the Format of chapters 16 and 17

  The paragraph numbers used in chapters 16 and 17 follow those of D. C. Lau’s Concordance to the Huainanzi and replace the references by chapter, page, and line that we have used in all but these two chapters. In a few cases, where we believe that Lau has conflated two or more sayings, we have divided the paragraph and renumbered the subsequent parts of it with the letters “a,” “b,” and so on, such as 4, 4a, and 4b.

  Sarah A. Queen and John S. Major

  1. Xunzi, chap. 5, “Fei xiang.” Translation modified from Knoblock 1988, 1:209.

  2. The vast majority of persuasions collected in Hanfeizi, chaps. 22 and 23, “A Forest of Persuasions, Parts 1 and 2,” follow this format, as do those collected in Shuo yuan, chap. 11, “Admirable Persuasions.”

  3. HFZ 22/47/1–7. For the Huainanzi account of this story, see 18.5.

  4. There are, of course, exceptions to this general rule. For example, in the “Tan cong” chapter of the Shuo yuan, three utterances are attributed to Zengzi.

  5. HFZ 23/51/17–18.

  6. HFZ 23/52/1–2.

  7. HFZ 23/52/4.

  8. HFZ 23/51/20–21. Meng Ben was a fearless warrior from the state of Wei. Zhuan Zhu was a courageous inhabitant of Wu who assassinated King Liao of Wu, thereby permitting Prince Guang to become King Helü of Wu.

  9. Shuo yuan, “Tan cong.” Interestingly, Liu Xiang conflates two Huainanzi passages here: the persuasion about “eels and snakes” comes from 17.56, and “those who hunt fish” comes from 12.3.

  Sixteen

  16.1

  The po [substantive soul] asked the hun [ethereal soul],1 “How does the Way take physical form?” The hun replied, “It takes Nothing There as its physical form.” The po asked, “Does Nothing There have a physical form, then?” The hun replied, “It does not.” The po asked, “If there is Nothing There, how can one apprehend it and be informed about it?” The hun replied, “I only have ways to encounter it, that is all. When we look at it, it has no form; when we listen to it, it has no sound. We call it ‘the Dark Mystery.’ The Dark Mystery can be used to refer to the Way, but it is not the Way.” The po said, “Now I get it.” Thereupon he turned his gaze inward and reverted to himself. The hun said, “Those who have attained the Way have forms that cannot be seen and names that cannot be expressed. You still have ‘form’ and ‘name.’ How can you attain the Way?” The po said, “What use is speech, then? I shall return to my Ancestor.” The po turned to look, and suddenly the hun could not be seen. The po then turned and got a grip on himself and also entered the formless.

  16.2

  If not for small learning, a person would not be greatly misled;

  if not for small intelligence, a person would not be greatly deluded.

  16.3

  No one uses running water for a mirror. Rather, you look at yourself in clear water because it is still and unmoving.

  16.4

  Mr. Zhan’s2 fishing [skill] could catch a thousand-year-old carp.

  So hard did Zengzi tug at the planked cart [carrying his father’s coffin] that the catafalque puller was forced to stop.

  When his elderly mother walked by singing, Shen Xi was moved right on the spot.3

  These are clear examples of the highest attainment of the Essence.

  16.4a

  Hu Ba4 played the se, and the sturgeons5 came up to listen.

  Bo Ya6 played the qin, and the quadriga horses raised their heads while grazing.

  Jie Zi[tui]7 sang about the dragon and the snake, and Lord Wen of Jin broke down in tears.

  Thus,

  if there is jade in the mountains, the plants and trees are enriched;

  if a pool produces pearls, its banks do not dry up.

  16.4b

  The earthworm lacks strength of muscles and bones and sharpness of claws and teeth, but

  above it eats dry earth

  and below it drinks of the Yellow Springs,

  for it uses its mind in a unitary way.

  16.5

  With the clarity of what is pure, a cup of water reveals [the reflection of] an eyeball.

  With the darkness of what is murky, the water of the [Yellow] River does not reveal [even the reflection of] Mount Tai.

  16.6

  If you stare at the sun, you will go blind.

  If you listen to thunder, you will become deaf.

  If you act without purpose, you will be well ordered.

  If you act with purpose, you will be harmed.

  Being well ordered through purposelessness is dependent on Nothingness. If you act with purpose, you will be unable to have anything. If you are unable to act without purpose, you will be unable to have anything purposeful.

  16.6a

  One who is without words is spiritlike.

  One who has words is harmed.

  One who is spiritlike through wordlessness is dependent on
Nothingness. Having words harms the spirit.8

  16.6b

  That by which the nose breathes,

  and that by which the ears hear—

  In the end it is their Nothingness that makes them function.

  Among things, none do not rely on what they have and use what they do not have.

  If you do not believe this, look at the flute and reed pipes.9

  16.7

  Those who ponder and worry cannot sleep. If pondering and worrying are ended, then there [must be] a means by which they are ended. When both [pondering and worrying] are completely extirpated, one may attain [a state of] Potency and Purity.

  16.8

  Sages spend their lives talking about governing. What is of use is not their words [as such] but what they have to say. Singers use lyrics, but what people really enjoy hearing is not the lyrics themselves. A parrot can speak, but it cannot engage in meaningful discourse. Why is this? It has the power of speech but does not have anything to say.

  Thus if someone follows you and walks in your tracks, he cannot produce fresh footprints of his own.