author
An Liu
-179–-122
A Han dynasty prince with a scholar’s curiosity, he is best known as the patron and editor behind the Huainanzi, a wide-ranging classic of early Chinese thought. His life blends court politics, philosophy, and the enduring legend that he helped inspire the story of tofu.
1 Audiobook
淮南子
by An Liu
About the author
Born around 179 BCE and dead by 122 BCE, Liu An was a prince of Huainan during China’s Western Han dynasty. Reliable reference sources describe him as a royal figure, philosopher, and patron of learning who gathered talented scholars at his court.
He is most closely associated with the Huainanzi, a major 2nd-century BCE work compiled under his patronage. The book brings together ideas about cosmology, government, ethics, and self-cultivation, drawing from Daoist, Confucian, Legalist, and other early Chinese traditions.
His story also has a dramatic political side: after becoming influential at court, he later fell from favor and died in 122 BCE. Some traditions also credit him with the invention of tofu, though that claim is better known as a long-standing legend than a firmly settled fact.