Liu Jia, Xue and Pei are also called "Hedong Three Surnames". Liu Zongyuan's eighth to sixth ancestors were court officials, and the fifth ancestor was the secretariat of Sizhou. After entering the Tang Dynasty, the Liu family had a close relationship with the Li royal family. During the reign alone, there were as many as 22 members of the Liu family living in Guanshushu Province. However, during the Yonghui period, the Liu family was repeatedly persecuted by Wu Zetian. By the time Liu Zongyuan was born, his family had declined, from the privileged position of royalty to the ordinary bureaucratic landlord class. Liu Zongyuan's great-grandfather and grandfather were just small officials like county magistrates. His father, Jin Ryu, has always had a low rank. Liu Zongyuan said with emotion that by his generation, Liu had "studied for nothing since May and June". The Anshi Rebellion caused another great impact on the Liu family. During the war, Jin Ryu sent his mother to the King of Wu for refuge, and she and her family fled to Wudi. In the south, it was once hard to make a living, and sometimes there was no salary. Liu Zongyuan's mother often starves herself to feed her children. Liu Zongyuan was born after the Anshi Rebellion, and his childhood was spent in poverty and hardship. When Liu Zongyuan was nine years old, another large-scale separatist war broke out, which made Liu Zongyuan's family suffer from war again. Liu Zongyuan grew up in turbulent times. He had a certain understanding of the people's sufferings and social reality since he was a teenager, which influenced his later literary and ideological achievements.
In the spring of the ninth year of Zhenyuan (793), 20-year-old Liu Zongyuan was admitted to the earth in the senior high school entrance examination, and at the same time, his good friend Liu Yuxi was also admitted to the earth. In the twelfth year of Zhenyuan (796), Liu Zongyuan was appointed as the secretary of the provincial school, which was regarded as stepping into the officialdom. This year, he married Yang Ping's daughter in Chang 'an. Two years later, he learned a lot of words and changed it to the orthography of Jixian Temple Academy, which allowed him to read widely and broaden his horizons. At the same time, he began to contact courtiers and bureaucrats, understand the situation of officialdom, care about and participate in politics. In the first year of Jixian Temple Academy, he wrote "Love Monument in Yangcheng, Ye Si, Guo Yi" and praised Dr. Yangcheng who had the courage to stick to his own opinions on major political affairs. In the second year, I wrote "Debate and Invasion", which showed my strong desire to persist in unity and oppose separatism.
In the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan (80 1), Liu Zongyuan was transferred to Lantian Wei, and two years later, he was transferred back to Chang 'an, where he served as the army supervisor in Li Xing. At that time, he was 3 1 year old and was an official with Han Yu. Although his rank is very low, his authority is no less than that of Shi Yu. Since then, he has made more friends with the upper echelons of officialdom, gained a deeper understanding of the dark corruption of politics, and gradually sprouted a desire for reform.
Wang He and Wang Yong Zhenguan's political reform failed only for half a year, but it was a progressive movement that shook the whole country. The measures taken dealt a blow to the autocratic eunuchs and the separatist forces in the buffer region at that time, benefiting the country and the people and conforming to the historical development. Liu Zongyuan and his good friend Liu Yuxi are the core figures of this innovation. They are called "Two Kings Liu Liu". Young Liu Zongyuan had a sharp struggle with eunuchs, aristocratic families and old bureaucrats on the political stage. His innovation and spirit of struggle are very valuable.
With the downfall of Shunzong, Xian Zong came to power, and the innovation failed, the reformists such as "Two Kings Liu Liu" were immediately demoted. In August, Xianzong ascended the throne, and in September, Liu Zongyuan was demoted as the secretariat of Shaozhou (now Shaoyang City, Hunan Province) and Sima of Yongzhou (now Lingling City, Hunan Province). This time, seven people were demoted to Sima at the same time, so history called this incident "two kings and eight Sima events."
Yongzhou is located at the junction of Hunan and Guangdong. It was lonely at that time. It was a terrible place with few people. Liu Zongyuan went to Yongzhou with his 67-year-old mother, cousin Liu Zongzhi and cousin Lu Zun. After they arrived in Yongzhou, they didn't even have a place to live. Later, with the help of a monk, they boarded in longxing temple. Because of the hard life, his mother Lushi died before he arrived in Yongzhou for half a year.
After Liu Zongyuan was demoted, his political opponents still refused to let him go. Gossip and personal attacks turned him into a "strange man", and after several years, he kept cursing. This shows the extent to which conservatives dislike him. In Yongzhou, cruel political persecution and hard living environment made Liu Zongyuan sad, angry, depressed and miserable. Coupled with several ruthless fires, his health was seriously damaged, even to the point where his knees trembled when he walked, but he was paralyzed as soon as he sat down. Liu Zongyuan's political ideal was not shaken by all kinds of persecution and hardships he suffered in his relegation career. In his letter, he clearly stated: "Although everything is excluded, it is nothing more than this."
The fall of Yongzhou 10 year was a major turning point in Liu Zongyuan's life. When he was in Beijing, he directly engaged in innovative activities. After arriving in Yongzhou, his struggle turned to the ideological and cultural field. Ten years in Yongzhou is a decade in which he continued to struggle. He has extensively studied some important issues in philosophy, politics, history and literature since ancient times, and has written articles and books. Most of his masterpieces, such as Feudalism, Unofficial Dialect, Heaven Pair and Six Contradictions, were completed in Yongzhou.