Heguanzi鹖冠子

Period

Warring States

Dates

? — ?

Role

Daoist Philosopher

Birthplace

State of Chu

Life

Heguanzi, a recluse of the state of Chu in the late Warring States period, took his name from the pheasant-feather cap he wore; his personal name is unknown. The Bibliographic Treatise of the Han History lists a Heguanzi in one chapter under the Daoist school. The received Heguanzi, in nineteen chapters, is Daoist in its main orientation while also incorporating military, Legalist, and yin-yang and numerological thought; it holds that 'the Dao gives rise to law,' and discusses the Way of Heaven, primordial qi, and rule by worthy men, making it an important work of Huang-Lao Daoism. Liu Zongyuan once suspected it of being a forgery, but after the 1973 discovery of the Mawangdui silk manuscript Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor, many passages were found to correspond with the Heguanzi, and most scholars now hold that it is substantially a work of the late Warring States to early Han period. Pang Xuan is traditionally said to have been his disciple. Though modest in length, the book is a key text for understanding the convergence of Daoism with Legalism, military thought, and yin-yang thought at the end of the Warring States period.

Contributions & Influence

• The Heguanzi is an important document of Huang-Lao Daoism, reflecting the fusion of Daoist and Legalist thought in the late Warring States period

Works

• Heguanzi (Pheasant Cap Master)