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Liu Zongyuan's literary achievements:
1. Liu Zongyuan attaches great importance to the content of articles, advocates that literature should clarify the Tao, and believes that "Tao" should be in the country. It is beneficial to the people and feasible. He paid attention to the social function of literature and emphasized that literature must be beneficial to the world. He advocated the perfect combination of ideological content and artistic form, pointed out that writing must have a serious attitude, and emphasized the importance of writers' moral cultivation. He admired the articles of the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, and proposed to learn from Confucian classics, Zhuangzi, Laozi, Li Sao, and Historical Records, etc., and use his extensive knowledge and experience for his own use, but he should not favor the past over the present. 2. In terms of poetry theory, he inherited the tradition of Liu Xie's advocating "Bixing" and Chen Zi'ang's advocating "Xing Ji". It is consistent with Bai Juyi's proposition on allegorical poetry in "Yu Yuan Jiu Shu". His poetry theory represented the progressive trend of the literary movement at that time. 3. Liu Zongyuan left more than 600 poems and essays in his lifetime, and his achievements in writing were greater than those in poetry. There are nearly a hundred pieces of parallel prose, which are not out of the Tang parallel prose style, but there are also excellent works like "Nan Ji Yun Suiyang Temple Stele". Ancient prose can be roughly divided into five categories.
4. Discussion: including philosophy, political essays and other essays mainly focused on discussion. The writing is sharp and the argument is precise. "Tian Shuo" is a representative philosophical treatise. "On Feudalism" and "On Punishment" are representative works of long and medium-length political commentaries. "Jin Wen Gong Wen Shou Yuan Yi", "Tong Ye Feng Di Debate", "Yi Yin Wu Ji Jie Zan" and other short political commentaries are representative. There is a simple materialistic element in his philosophical thought. His political thoughts are mainly manifested in the progressive social and historical view that emphasizes "power" and the Confucian people-centered thought. But they are also influenced by Buddhism, especially when they are politically frustrated, they often look to Buddhism for spiritual relief.
5. Fables: Inherited and developed the tradition of "Zhuangzi", "Han Feizi", "Lü Shi Chun Qiu", "Lie Zi", and "Warring States Policy", and were mostly used to satirize and criticize the ugly phenomena of the society at that time. He is innovative and creative, making good use of various animal anthropomorphic artistic images to convey philosophy or express political opinions. His representative works include "Three Commandments" ("The Elk of Linjiang", "The Donkey of Guizhou", "The Rat of Yong Mou"), "Biography", "Zhuo Shuo" and other chapters. Laughing and cursing, and adapting to the shape of things, show a high degree of humorous and satirical art.
Biography: It inherits the tradition of "Historical Records" and "Hanshu", and also makes some innovations. His representative works include "The Anecdotes of Captain Duan", "The Biography of Zi Ren", "The Biography of Hejian", "The Story of the Snake Catcher", etc. Some works are exaggerated and fictional based on real people and real events, like fables and novels. Such as "The Biography of Song and Qing Dynasties" and "The Biography of Planting Trees and Guo Lituo".
Shanshui Travel Notes: The most popular ones, all written after he was demoted, and the ones written by Yongzhou are more popular. Examples of the Eight Records of Yongzhou: "The Journey to Xishan Banquet", "Cobalt Pond", "Cobalt Pond West Xiaoqiu", "To the Xiaoshi Pond West", "Yuan Jia Ke Ji", "Shi Canal" , "The Story of Stone Stream", "The Story of Little Rock City Mountain". These works not only use beautiful scenery to express one's own experiences and resentments; they also describe the author's quiet state of mind, showing that he turned to pursue spiritual sustenance in extreme depression. As for directly depicting landscapes, they may be steep and clean, or may be clear and beautiful, using exquisite language to reproduce the natural beauty.
6. Sao Fu: unique. "Punishment Fu", "Minsheng Fu", "Menggui Fu", "Qiu Shan Fu", etc. all use the "Li Sao" and "Nine Chapters" styles. Some express their feelings directly, some use ancient references to hurt themselves, some allegorize and express sarcasm, meditative and bitter words, which deeply capture the essence of Qu Sao. The two giant chapters "Tian Dui" and "Jin Wen" are of another type. Their form is modeled on "Tian Wen" and "Qifa", and their language is unique and profound. In addition, there are also many steles, inscriptions, notes, prefaces, poems and other works related to Buddhism in Liuji, which involve Zen, Tiantai, Vinaya and other doctrines. There are more than 140 Liu poems in existence, all of which were written after he was demoted. The predecessors called him King Meng Weiliu together with Wang Wei, Meng Haoran and Wei Yingwu. Some of its Five Ancient Thoughts are close to Tao Yuanming's poems in content, the language is simple and natural, the style is elegant and meaningful. Other Wugu poems were influenced by Xie Lingyun. They composed exquisite words and mixed with mystical principles. They even learned from Xie poems when writing titles. But Liu's poems can contain resentment in their beauty, showing similarities but differences. In addition, Liu Shi also has the rhyme poem "Climb the Liuzhou Tower and Send to Zhangting to Connect the Four States" which is famous for its generosity, sadness and health. It is a famous seven-rhythm poem in the Tang Dynasty. The quatrain "Jiang Xue" is also a rare work among the quatrains of the Tang Dynasty.