Complete Collection of Liu Yuxi: An Annotated Chronological Edition (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (Tang) Liu Yuxi, annotated by Tao Min and Tao Hongyu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-11-01
Features: Liu Yuxi (772–842), styled Mengde, was originally from Luoyang, later moved to Xingyang (now part of Henan), and claimed descent from Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan during the Han Dynasty. In the late Tianbao era, when the Central Plains were in chaos, Liu Yuxi followed his father Liu Xu to the Jiangnan region, spending his childhood in places like Jiaxing, where he studied poetry under the poets and monks Jiaoran and Lingche. In 793 (the ninth year of the Zhenyuan era), he passed the imperial examinations and was appointed as a junior compiler in the Hongwen Academy. In 797 (the twelfth year of the Zhenyuan era), Liu Xu, who was overseeing the salt and iron affairs in Pujiao, fell seriously ill and died in Yangzhou, prompting Liu Yuxi to take leave and return east. After completing his mourning period, he was recruited by Du You, the military governor of Huainan and also of Xushui, as the chief secretary of Xushui. When Du You relinquished his post in Xushui, Liu Yuxi was reassigned as the chief secretary of Huainan. In 802 (the eighteenth year of the Zhenyuan era), he was transferred to the position of chief clerk in Weixian County (now part of Shaanxi). The following winter, he was appointed as a censor and served alongside Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in the Censorate. In January 805 (the first year of the Yongzhen era), Emperor Shunzong ascended the throne. Soon after, Liu Yuxi was promoted to the position of assistant director of agriculture, concurrently serving as the director of Emperor Dezong's mausoleum and handling the salt and iron cases. He actively participated in the reform movement led by Wang Ren and Wang Shuwen. In August of the same year, Emperor Shunzong abdicated, and the reforms failed. In November, all participants in the reform movement were exiled, and Liu Yuxi was to the post of magistrate of Lianzhou (now Lianxian in Guangdong). On his way to Jingling (now part of Hubei), he was further to the post of assistant magistrate in Langzhou (now Changde in Hunan), with the edict stating that even if he received amnesty, he would not be transferred. In 815 (the tenth year of the Yuanhe era), Liu Yuxi and other exiled officials like Liu Zongyuan and Han Tai were recalled to the capital and appointed as magistrates in distant regions. Liu Yuxi was assigned to Lianzhou. In 818 (the fourteenth year of the Yuanhe era), his mother passed away, and he returned north to mourn her. In 822 (the second year of the Changqing era), he was appointed as the magistrate of Kuizhou (now Fengjie in Chongqing). In the autumn of 824 (the fourth year of the Changqing era), he was transferred to the post of magistrate of Hezhou (now He County in Anhui). In 826 (the second year of the Baoli era), he was dismissed from Hezhou and returned to Luoyang. In 827 (the first year of the Dahuo era), thanks to the support of the prime minister Pei Du and others, Liu Yuxi was appointed as the assistant director of rites, serving in the eastern capital. From then on, he had no official responsibilities. The following spring, he returned to Chang'an as the assistant director of rites, concurrently serving as a scholar at the Jixian Academy. This marked 24 years since his exile in 805. The following year, he was promoted to the director of rites, still concurrently serving as a scholar at the Jixian Academy. According to custom, the director of rites was responsible for the official documents of the Secretariat of State and was known as the "Southern Palace Scholar," with the expectation of being promoted to the position of director of imperial edicts within 100 days. However, soon after, Pei Du was sidelined by Li Fengji and others and appointed as the military governor of Shannan East Circuit, leaving Liu Yuxi without further promotion. In the winter of 831 (the fifth year of the Dahuo era), he was appointed as the magistrate of Suzhou. For his contributions to disaster relief in Suzhou, he was granted the purple robe and gold belt. In the autumn of 834 (the eighth year of the Dahuo era), he was transferred to the post of magistrate of Runzhou (now Linru in Henan). The following year, he was promoted to the post of magistrate of Tongzhou (now Dali in Shaanxi). Tongzhou was one of the four, often used as a temporary posting for officials. However, by this time, Liu Yuxi was already 64 years old, and he soon witnessed the "Sweet Dew Incident" in Chang'an—the brutal clash between eunuchs and court officials, resulting in the execution of over a dozen prime ministers and military governors. Thus, in the autumn of 836 (the first year of the Kaicheng era), he resigned and returned to Luoyang, appointed as the assistant imperial counselor, serving in the eastern capital. There, he engaged in poetry and wine with Pei Du and Bai Juyi, who were already in Luoyang. Later, he was reassigned as the director of the imperial library, concurrently serving as the assistant director of rites and the assistant imperial counselor, remaining in Luoyang until his death from illness in the autumn of 842 (the second year of the Huaiqing era). He was posthumously granted the title of minister of war. Liu Yuxi was a materialist thinker and an active reformist politician. He was versatile, skilled in calligraphy and music, and achieved great success in poetry and prose. His contemporary classical prose master Li Ao once said, "I once joined Han Yu as the leader of the literary alliance, alongside Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan." Later, Zhao Lin remarked, "Since the Yuanhe era, those who excelled in both prose and poetry included Liu Zongyuan of Liuzhou, Liu Yuxi of the Ministry of Rites, and Yang Jing (Yang Jingzhi). Among them, Liu and Yang were not only skilled in prose and poetry but also excelled in poetry." His poetry was bold and spirited, rivaling Bai Juyi in fame. Beyond the popular and realistic school and the bizarre and eccentric school of mid-Tang poetry, he carved out his own distinct style. Bai Juyi once enthusiastically praised him with terms like "Poet General," "National Master of Poetry," and "Divine and Wonderful." Liu Yuxi was diligent in writing and paid great attention to compiling and preserving his works. In addition to compiling his collected poems with Bai Juyi, Pei Du, Linghu Chu, and Li Deyu into "The Collected Poems of Liu and Bai," "The Luozhong Collection," "The Pengyang Collection," and "The Wu-Shu Collection," he also compiled his own works into a 40-volume collection. In the seventh year of the Dahuo era, while serving as the magistrate of Suzhou, he edited out a quarter of the collection, creating a 10-volume "Brief Collection of Liu's Works." However, both his self-edited 40-volume collection and the "Brief Collection of Liu's Works" were lost. The "New Book of Tang·Bibliography IV" records "The Collected Works of Liu Yuxi in 40 volumes." This collection includes works from the seventh year of the Dahuo era onwards and was not Liu's self-edited collection. Volume 27 of the editor's notes states, "The above poems were not originally included in the collection. They were later added to the end of the volume as they had been published in musical compositions." The tone suggests it was written by Liu Yuxi's later followers. By the early Northern Song Dynasty, 10 volumes of the original collection were lost. Song Minqiu (1019–1079) compiled the remaining works into a 10-volume "Outer Collection," bringing the total back to 40 volumes. Thus, the Liu Collection is now available in both 40-volume and 30-volume editions. The 30-volume edition includes a Ming-era printed copy of "The Collected Works of Liu Boren" (now held in the National Library of China), which was photocopied by Shaanxi People's Publishing House in 1974. There is also an edition from the thirty-fifth year of the Guangxu era (1909) by Wang Shi of Dingzhou in the "Jili Series," which was used for the "Complete Series." The 40-volume edition survives in three Song-era printed copies: one is the "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" (30 volumes) and "Outer Collection" (10 volumes) from Shu, now held in the Chorin Pavilion of the Fukuin family in Kyoto, Japan. In 1913, Dong Kang of Wujin used heliography to print 100 copies, which were later widely disseminated by the "Four Great Classics Series." Another is the "Collected Works of Liu Boren" (30 volumes) and "Outer Collection" (10 volumes) from the Southern Song in Zhejiang, which lacks Song Minqiu's postscript to the "Outer Collection" and Dong Qi's note from the eighth year of Shaoxing (1157), originally held in the Chenghuang Mountain Summer Palace and now in the Palace Museum in Taipei. In 1923, Xu Senyu of Wuxing photocopied it. The third is the "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" from Shu, now only surviving volumes 1–4, held in the National Library of China. Additionally, there is an edition from the thirty-first year of the Guangxu era (1905) by Zhu of Renhe in the "Jieyi Series," based on a Ming-era manuscript, which was used for the "Complete Collection of the Four Great Classics." This edition is also included in the "Jiayehua Series." The current collation uses Xu Senyu's photocopied Song-era Zhejiang edition of "The Collected Works of Liu Boren" (referred to as the Xu edition) as the base text, with comparisons to the Ming-era printed copy of "The Collected Works of Liu Boren" held in the National Library of China (referred to as the Ming edition), the "Four Great Classics Series" edition of "The Collected Works of Liu Mengde" (referred to as the "Series" edition), the "Jiayehua Series" edition of "The Collected Works of Liu Boren" (referred to as the Liu edition), "The Complete Collection of Tang Prose," "The Complete Collection of Tang Poetry," and other works such as "The Splendid Garden of Literary Masters" and "The Essence of Tang Prose." The Xu edition is missing pages 3 and 6 in the 13th volume, which are supplemented by the "Series" edition.