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Territory of the warlords of Han China in the 190s. Gao You served in the administration of Cao Cao's territory, which later became the Kingdom of Wei.
Gao began his Notes on the Huainanzi(《淮南子注》,Huáinánzi Zhù)[12] while studying under Lu[1] and then completed his full commentary[12] in AD212.[13] The Huainanzi had become important by his time because it was used to "verify" or "test" the genuineness of editions and commentaries of other classics.[14]Charles Le Blanc (1935)[fr] argues that the phrasing of Gao's preface to his edition of the Huainanzi indicates that still had notes from his former teacher to consult; he also argues that Gao's commentary presumably incorporates the highlights of the otherwise lost work by Lu's own teacher Ma Rong.[15]
Current editions of the Huainanzi derive in part from copies of Gao's commentaries on it. He commented on all 21 chapters of the original text, but only 13 survive in full. Although the authenticity and completeness of the eight chapters now taken from Xu Shen's alleged commentary are both questioned, Gao's chapters are thought to represent survivals of a genuine copy of the original text.[16] The sinologist Victor Mair considers Gao You responsible for the current organization of the Strategies of the Warring States.[17]
Gao's note that his copy of Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, which he considered in "poor condition", consisted of 173,054 characters is significant to scholarship concerning that text, since it makes his edition about a third longer than any currently existing.[1]
