The Huainan is one of the not easily discussed classic in the Zhou-Qin-Han system of classics, historical records, and philosophical writings; the main reason for such saying is that it is not easy to establish the uniqueness of ideas within that system (Zhou-Qin Han philosophical writings), nor is it easy to establish the unity of thought within its own system (Huainan). This is mainly due to its two basic characteristics:
I. The ideas are mostly inherited from the old sayings of the pre-Qin period.
II. Its system contains contradictory views.
The former leads to its lack of independence of meaning in the history of thought, thereby becoming an appendage of pre-Qin ideas. The latter has led to a loss of clarity in its own character in terms of values and thus turned it into a variety of schools of ideas.
The purpose of this article, in the final analysis, is to attempt to untie the above two knots and to make the Huainan a text that “as itself” and “with a clear analysis of its ideological character” can reemerge to the world. The author has put such concern into two primary questions: first, how deep does the Huainan penetrate into the thought of the Han Dynasty? Second, what are the values and beliefs embedded in the Huainan's narratives?
The author uses “Qi” as the core concept and selects the parts of Huainan that have a unique character - theory of astronomy, geography, and induction - in relation to the three major topics of Huainan - heaven, earth, and man - in order to discuss their fluctuations in the history of thought of Han Dynasty on the one hand, and their beliefs and values in the order of rule on the other.
It is expected that through this relatively special point of view, the long-chastened character of the Huainan can be explained to a certain extent and provide scholars with a possibility to untie the internal knot in the study of the Huainan.