Abstract

This paper reflects on two ideas addressed in Benoît Vermander’s essay “Edit by Number.” First, how can we apply “coherence in structure” to the historical development of textual production and edition in ancient China? And second, what concept of number underlies the considerations in the Huáinán Zǐ 淮南子? To answer the first question, this article compares the different compositional patterns of texts that, as with the Lǎo Zǐ 老子and the Yì Jīng 易經, are available to us in different versions. The result of the comparison shows that the differences seem to outweigh the coherent patterns, so we must assume that some texts have undergone very large changes historically. Regarding the concept of number, different views on number are highlighted in texts of the Warring States Period and the Hàn 漢 dynasty, which shows that the Huáinán Zǐ contains a very specific concept of number and its own theory of the One.