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Huan Kuan

Western Han scholar who recorded the salt and iron debate of Emperor Zhao's reign as the Discourses on Salt and Iron

Also known as Zi Cigong

Huan Kuan, courtesy name Cigong, from Runan, studied the Gongyang commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, was appointed a gentleman and rose to assistant to the governor of Lujiang. In 81 BCE Emperor Zhao's court summoned more than sixty worthies and literati to debate the salt and iron monopolies and other policies with the imperial counsellor Sang Hongyang. The Book of Han says that under Emperor Xuan Huan Kuan expanded the record of this debate into the Discourses on Salt and Iron, in question-and-answer form; the received text has sixty chapters setting out the two sides' views on the state monopolies.

Life and times

  1. 100 BCEBornHan
  2. 81 BCEDiscourse on Salt and IronTook partNational summit on state monopolies vs private markets, defining 2,000 years of imperial economic doctrine.
  3. 50 BCEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Prose62
    1. Discourses on Salt and IronHanHuan Kuan's record of the 81 BCE court debate on the salt and iron monopolies, sixty chapters
    2. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Fundamental DiscussionHan
    3. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Diligent FarmingHan
    4. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Circulating GoodsHan
    5. Discourses on Salt and Iron: CoinageHan
    6. +25 more
      1. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Prohibitions on Private ProductionHan
      2. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Return to AntiquityHan
      3. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Against Shang YangHan
      4. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Chao CuoHan
      5. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Censure of the PowerfulHan
      6. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Censure of RedundancyHan
      7. Discourses on Salt and Iron: On the ConfuciansHan
      8. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Concern for the FrontierHan
      9. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Parks and PondsHan
      10. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Light and HeavyHan
      11. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Not Yet UnderstoodHan
      12. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Extent of TerritoryHan
      13. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Poverty and WealthHan
      14. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Disparaging LearningHan
      15. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Praising the WorthyHan
      16. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Mutual CensureHan
      17. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Different PathsHan
      18. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Defending the WorthyHan
      19. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Following the WayHan
      20. Discourses on Salt and Iron: On SlanderHan
      21. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Filial SupportHan
      22. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Censure of the DebateHan
      23. Discourses on Salt and Iron: On ProfitHan
      24. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Ills of the StateHan
      25. Discourses on Salt and Iron: Extravagance and InsufficiencyHan
    7. Open all works→
  2. Literature · Sayings4
    1. Competing With the People for ProfitHanLine from the Discourses on Salt and Iron: the state should not chase profit against its people
    2. A Leaking Cup Can Never Be FilledHanIdiom of the leaking cup, used in the salt and iron debates: wealth draining away
    3. Promoting Farming and Holding Back TradeHanIdiom from the Debates on Salt and Iron: put farming first and curb commerce
    4. Fear Not Poverty but Unequal SharesHanLine from the Discourses on Salt and Iron: fair shares matter more than wealth

Connections

  1. Shared events4
    1. Emperor Wu of Han (Liu Che)156 BCE–87 BCE
    2. Sang Hongyangc. 152 BCE–80 BCE
    3. Huo GuangBirth unknown–68 …
    4. Emperor Zhao of Han94 BCE - 74 BCE