Liu An (179 ~ 122), the king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty, was born in Pei Junfeng (now Peixian East, Jiangsu Province) and was the grandson of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. He likes reading and playing the piano, and his articles are well written. He also likes Ji Fang and strongly advocates "immortal Taoism". Liu An still has the legacy of the son of the Warring States, wishing to be a "friar". Huainan was one of the cultural centers at that time, where many people gathered, and many learned people fell at his door, so that there were "thousands of people who used magic." These people have come up with a lot of "magic", most of which belong to alchemy and other illusions, that is, the so-called "thunder fire" technique, and many of them are probably designed by using science and technology. Liu An himself has accumulated a lot of scientific and technological knowledge, so the busy Emperor Wu often called him into the palace to talk about this issue, which often ended very late.

Liu An once organized his disciples to write stories and wrote many books. According to records, there are 2 1 book in the "internal book", and the "external book" is very large, and the "novella" has 8 volumes, about 200,000 words. Hanshu? There are 6 kinds of Liu An's works recorded in Yiwenzhi, 20 1 article, and most of them are lost. Only Huainan Zi (2 1), also known as Huainan Lie Hong, has been handed down to this day, and it is an internal book. In addition, there is a compilation of Huainan Wanbi Book, which is likely to be a "foreign book". Huainanzi is a philosophical work, which is mainly based on Taoism and integrates Confucianism, Legalism, Yin and Yang, and develops the theory of "Tao" and "Qi" in pre-Qin period. When discussing philosophical issues, a lot of natural knowledge is quoted. This book reflects the achievements of natural science in the Western Han Dynasty, especially in the formation of the universe, music, geography, biological evolution and chemistry. Wan Bi Shu is practical and records six or seven physical experiment designs, which is very valuable information.

The knowledge of astronomy, music, biology, physics, etc. in The King of Huainan has been studied in China to varying degrees. Just in 1930s, Liu An was introduced abroad as an ancient chemist.