 Much of the most prominent philosophy in the Han period in China was closely associated with the state. Philosophical discussions and texts were commissioned by state or imperial representatives and organizations, to help resolve problems or guide political action. By the Han, there had long been a tradition of philosophy associated with advisors to the state. Many of the most well-known philosophers in earlier periods had been political advisors, with some notable exceptions such as the “Dao-tradition” figures represented in texts such as the late Warring States Period (475–221 BCE) text Zhuangzi. While prior to the Han, we find a variety of philosophical “schools” associated with different states and individuals (as there was no imperial structure), many (but not all) of the surviving philosophical texts from the Han are associated in some way with the Han state. Some well-known examples of philosophy closely linked to Han imperial concerns and issues are the treatises of the early Han advisors Lu Jia (240–170 BCE) and Jia Yi (200–169 BCE), the Huainanzi, commissioned by Liu An (179–122 BCE), the vassal ruler of the Huainan state and uncle of Emperor Wu of Han (156–87 BCE), the Yantielun (“Salt and Iron Discourses”), the account by Huan Kuan of a series of discussions organized by Emperor Zhao of Han concerning state production of goods, and the Baihutong, recounting a similar group of imperially sanctioned discussions. It is not quite right, however, to say that in the Han, philosophy becomes the purview of the state. Religion, divination, medicine, and other areas of thought all contained a great deal of philosophical content. And as we will see, philosophical discussions in the later part of the Han were increasingly independent of the state.