On Salt and Iron is a collection of political essays based on the documents of the salt and iron conference held in the sixth year of Emperor Zhao (8 1 year BC). It vividly recorded the debate between the ancient scholar Sang Hongyang and the "wise" and "literate" people gathered all over the country, preserved many historical materials of economic thoughts and customs in the middle Western Han Dynasty, and exposed some social problems and contradictions at that time. In words, it describes several characters with their own characteristics through certain concentration and generalization, some of which are vivid in language and description, with a strong sense of * * *; Especially in the form of dialogue, and the articles are interrelated, which is rare in prose works. But overall, its writing is a bit rigid.
The Theory of Salt and Iron is the first monograph on salt and iron in Chinese history, with a rigorous structure and a unified system. In the form of dialogue, this paper objectively records the mutual questioning between Sang Hongyang and his aides and "virtuous" and "literature", which not only shows their tit-for-tat views, but also shows their class position in the war of words.
The language of the work is concise and to the point. The style of writing is magnificent, layered, exaggerated, parallel, dual, neat and changeable, and it is unique in the political essays of the Western Han Dynasty. At the same time, it also preserved rich historical materials for studying the social contradictions at that time and Sang Hongyang's thoughts.
The book is divided into ten volumes and sixty articles, each with its own title, but the content is coherent. Wang Chong, a great writer in the Eastern Han Dynasty, praised it in his famous book Lun Heng An Shu, reflecting that "two edges are carved, and the interests are known; Second, the characteristics of "consistency, right and wrong is to look at". There are Guo Moruo's revised Reading Book on Salt and Iron and Professor Wang's Notes on Salt and Iron.
Huan Kuan's epigram "Filial piety is in essence, not in appearance" appeared in Unit 6 of the first volume of the fifth grade of compulsory education curriculum standard experimental textbook published by People's Education Press. It means:
Filial piety for elders needs simple and practical work, real respect and love, rather than pursuing some superficial fancy forms. What parents really need at present is the companionship and care of their children. If they only do good manners and lack respect and love in their hearts, they are not really filial to their parents.