Liu An

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisLiu.

Liu An
Traditional Chinese	Lưu an
Simplified Chinese	Lưu an
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Ān IPA [ljǒʊ án] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làuh Ōn Jyutping Lau4On1 IPA [lɐw˩ ɔn˥] Southern Min HokkienPOJ Lâu An Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Ljuw 'An Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *mə-ru ʔˤan (or ʔˤar)

Liu An
King of Huainan
Reign	164 BC-122 BC
Predecessor	Liu He
Born	179 BC
Died	122 BC (aged 57)
Issue	Prince Liu Buhai Prince Liu Qian PrincessLiu Ling
Father	Liu Chang, Prince Li of Huainan
Mother	Lady Yong
Occupation	Cartographer, monarch, philosopher

Liú Ān(Chinese:Lưu an,c. 179–122 BC) was a Chinese cartographer, monarch, and philosopher. AHan dynastyChinese prince, ruling theHuainan Kingdom,and an advisor to his nephew,Emperor Wu of Han( võ đế ). He is best known for editing the (139 BC)Huainanzicompendium ofDaoist,Confucianist,andLegalistteachings and is credited for inventingtofu.Early texts represent Liu An in three ways: the "author-editor of a respected philosophical symposium", the "bumbling rebel who took his life to avoid arrest", and the successful Daoist adept who transformed into axianand "rose into the air to escape prosecution for trumped-up charges of treason and flew to eternal life."

Life

He was the grandson ofLiu Bang,the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. After his father died, he became thePrince of Huainan,the lands south of theHuai River,at the age of 16.

Liu An had two sons. The younger was Liu Qian ( lưu thiên ), who was born by his princess consort and thus became heir to Huainan, while the elder,Liu Buhai( lưu bất hại ), was born to a concubine. Liu An favoured Liu Qian over Liu Buhai and never viewed the latter as his son. Liu Qian never regarded Liu Buhai as his elder brother. According to Tui'en Ling ( thôi ân lệnh,Order to Expand Favours), Liu Buhai could become a marquess if Liu An carved a part of Huainan for him as his fief, but Liu An never did. Liu Jian ( lưu kiến ), son of Liu Buhai, having realized that both he and his father had little chance to be a marquess, became so resentful that he accused Liu An and Liu Qian of acoupattempt. Finally, in a fate similar to his father, Liu An committedsuicidein 122 BC after his plot was revealed.

Literature

Noted for his literary ability, Liu An was reputed to be able to compose an elaborate work of prose between waking and finishing breakfast. In addition to composing literary pieces himself, Liu An also frequently invited other scholars as guests to his estate. Eight of these scholars in particular became known as theEight Immortals of Huainan( hoài nam bát tiên ).

Huainanzi

Together with the Eight Immortals of Huainan and/or other members of his literary circle, Liu An published a treatise in 139 BC. known as theHuainanzi,translated as "Book of the Master of Huainan", or the "Huainan Philosophers". This book is considered one of the cornerstones of Taoist philosophy, along with the works ofLaoziandZhuangzi.Along with the earlierShuJing(Classic of History) of the 5th century BC (Warring Statesera), this book provided further concrete information ongeography,including descriptions of thetopographyof China. His book was also concerned with mathematics and music, making use of the "Pythagorean comma"and listing the first knownChinese 12 tone musical tuning.

Chu ci

One of the two major ancient Chinese poetry collections was theChu ci,also known asThe Songs of the SouthorThe Songs of Chu(the other being theShijing). The seminal poem of the collection is the "Li Sao",generally agreed to be byQu Yuan.Liu An wrote an introduction to the "Li Sao"as well as the first known commentary. There is also reasonable evidence that Liu An was the first editor and anthologist of the originalChu cicollection. The poemZhao yin shi(Summons for a Recluse)is attributed to Liu An. Also, "Yuan You"(" Far-off Journey ") shows many similarities to the work of the literary circle around Liu An.

Legend of inventing soy milk

According to the legend, Liu A developedsoy milkfor his old, ill mother. She wanted to tastesoybeansbut couldn't chew, so Liu An ground the soybeans into milk, apparently upon her suggestion.No historical evidence supports the legend. In theMing dynastyreference workBencao Gangmu,authorLi Shizhendescribes the development ofbean curd(tofu) but does not mention a particular inventor. The attribution of the invention of tofu to Liu An was also made by anotherMing dynastywriter, Li Yi ( lý dực ).During theSong dynastyin the 10th century,Zhu Xihad already written of the method of Huainan in "Song of Bean Curd" ( "Đậu hủ thi" ).It is also mentioned in a book which called bean curd "Lai Ki" in the Han dynasty, and the word appeared in an early Song dynasty writing.Other Chinese sources discredit the Liu An invention theory, however, and state that Liu An lived with a lot of vegetarian monks and the method was taught by them. The Chinese Daoists that he recruited used "alchemical" methods to make both soy milk and bean curd, perhaps as a medicine for eternal life. As the only powerful noble at that time, Liu An could order the (relative) mass-production of such items and spread them around, thus making him famous for soy milk and bean curd.Still, many place Liu An as the inventor of both bean curd and soy milk.

A different tradition could be found in 《 kim hoa địa phương phong tục chí 》 and 《 trung quốc phong tục cố sự tập 》, which mention that soy milk and bean curd were made before the Han dynasty. These traditions date soy milk to thewarring states periodby theYangeneralYue Yi,These two books are rather recent and the quote in it was only a legend told to bean curd makers orally, without written record.

See also

• List of geographers
• List of Chinese people
• List of Chinese writers
• List of Chu Ci contents

References

• *Hawkes, David,translator and introduction (2011 [1985]). Qu Yuanet al.,The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets.London: Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-14-044375-2
• Needham, Joseph (1986).Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3.Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Wallacker, Benjamin E. (1972), "Liu an, Second King of Huai-nan (180?-122 B. C.),"Journal of the American Oriental Society92.1, pp. 36–51.

External links

• The Huainan Zi text of Liu An
• The Dao of the Military: Liu An's Art of War,(Columbia University Press, 2012)
• Works by An LiuatProject Gutenberg