author
active 1st century B.C. Kuan Huan
Known mainly through the classic Discourses on Salt and Iron, this Western Han writer preserved one of ancient China’s great policy debates. Little is known about the person behind the book, which makes the work itself all the more fascinating.
1 Audiobook
鹽鐵論
by active 1st century B.C. Kuan Huan
About the author
Huan Kuan, also cataloged as Kuan Huan, was a writer of China’s Western Han period and is best known as the compiler of Discourses on Salt and Iron (Yantielun). The work records debates held in 81 BCE at the imperial court about state monopolies, taxation, and government policy.
Sources consistently describe his life details as uncertain. Library of Congress records note that his birth and death dates are unknown, and other reference material identifies him by the courtesy name Cigong and links him to Runan.
What has lasted is the importance of his book. Discourses on Salt and Iron remains a major source for understanding early Chinese political thought, especially arguments over how much the state should direct the economy and daily life.