Wenxin Diao Long Zhu (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Liu Xie (Southern Dynasties of Liang), annotated by Fan Wenlan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, written by Liu Xie of the Liang Dynasty, is a renowned work in the existing ancient Chinese yellow literature. It is a classic that emerged early in the era and possesses a complete lineage. Chinese classical literature, after a long period of development from the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, had accumulated rich creative experiences and had undergone numerous theoretical explorations. By the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, there was a new leap in creation, while theory entered a phase of consciously summarizing experience. Starting from the Jian'an era, complete literary theory monographs began to appear one after another. By the time of the Qi and Liang dynasties, Liu Xie's The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons emerged, becoming the culmination of later works. This book comprises ten volumes and fifty chapters, which can be clearly divided into four parts: one, general theory; two, theories of literary genres; three, theories of creation; four, theories of appreciation, with the self-introductory Preface and Biography as the fiftieth chapter, summarizing the entire work. In this sense, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is a work without successors. Today, as we critically inherit the legacy of Chinese classical literary theory, we naturally should conduct serious research on this book.