4 THE OPERATIONS AXD MANIFESTATIONS 



It is therefore likely that Liu An investigated the- 

 writings and systems of past ages. Dr. E. H. Parker 

 concludes that the philosopher must have been a diligent 

 student of Kuan Tzu, and incorporated many of his ideas, 

 as is evident from an examination of the 21 essays. However 

 that may be, his mind was influenced mostly by the trite 

 and luminous maxims of Lao Tan. In the essay before us 

 he tests his "law" by historical examples, and in turn, each 

 historical example is illumined by a saying of Lao Tzu. 



We are not told how he became so much under the 

 influence of this great sage. Possibly it might have been 

 through his wife. Incidentally we may have here a glimpse 

 into the home life of Liu An. His wife was evidently a 

 student. She was in possession of a very rare book. Shall 

 we call it her book of devotions? The author of this work 

 was reputed to be Lao Tan and its name was the Tao Te 

 Ching. This evidently was the home classic. The lady and 

 her husband had possibly committed it to memory. That 

 was the safest thing to do in those turbulent times. And 

 the frequent quotations in his writings lead us to think that 

 it was so. He and she knew it by heart. Its teaching at 

 any rate seem to have become the ideal of their life and 

 through them to have coloured the stream of Chinese 

 thought. 



At one time it is known that to avoid the suspicions of 

 being a politician he had withdrawn into the seclusion of 

 the study. He gathered round him twenty or thirty cele- 

 brated scholars— all more or less imbued with the principles 

 of Taoism. It was during this time of seclusion that these 

 essays were composed. Whether they are actually the work 

 of the prince himself or the result of the collaborateurs is 

 uncertain; at any rate they went forth under his name, and 

 he became the philosopher of Huai Nan. In a way this 

 reminds us of King Alfred and the scholarly men he gathered 

 round him. He set them to make translation of history, 

 Bothius's Comforts of Philosophy, history, poetry and so on. 

 And Huai An Tzu and his scholars ransacked history and 

 philosophy creating the compendious collection of essays 

 before us to-day. He and Alfred attained some results 

 that were similar. Alfred made English the richest language 

 of Europe, and Huai Nan Tzu created a new style for China, 

 chaste and elevating: and if difficult to understand in some* 

 parts, yet the style is excellent if not faultless, and the mass 

 of historical events has been of great profit. Possibly 

 Ssu Ma Ch'ien pored over these pages, and found in them- 

 much material for his great history. The ideas of this 

 ancient writer have done much to form Chinese ethical and 



