However, for this literary master in the middle Tang Dynasty, his two representative works are often ignored.
These two articles are his questions and answers with senior figures, which embody Liu Zongyuan's materialistic consciousness and are masterpieces of China's ancient ideological circles.
These two articles are Tian Shuo and Tian Dui.
Tian Shuo is Liu Zongyuan's refutation of Han Yu's view of destiny.
The so-called "theory of heaven" means that Liu Zongyuan expounded a new view of heaven with his own thoughts.
In China's traditional Confucianism, the concept of "destiny" is a core concept, especially after Dong Zhongshu reformed Confucianism. The so-called "heaven-man induction" is the key theory for rulers to maintain their own rule.
However, Liu Zongyuan believes that the sky is unconscious, the sky is not constant, and there is no so-called induction between the sky and people. The rewards and punishments of good and evil all come from people's self-awareness and have nothing to do with God's will.
But Tian Dui goes deeper, and Liu Zongyuan's Tian Dui is an article that answers Qu Yuan's Tian Wen.
Qu Yuan put forward a series of questions about heaven in Tian Wen, involving heaven, time, space, the world universe, social ethics and so on. Liu Zongyuan answered them one by one.
Liu Zongyuan's core theory still holds that heaven is unconscious, there is no fairy in heaven, and fate is uncertain. This view is close to materialism, completely different from Confucian idealism, and even more antagonistic to the concept of destiny.
"Heaven Theory" and "Heaven Pair" are the concentrated expression of Liu Zongyuan's thought, which was an anomaly or even heresy in the Tang Dynasty dominated by Confucianism and Taoism.
Liu Zongyuan, as an intellectual with a noble family background in the imperial examination, should not oppose the Confucian view of destiny.
However, that era and Liu Zongyuan's own beliefs made him make an "alternative" choice.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty was politically corrupt, the society was dark, the eunuchs were in power, the provinces were separated, and the people lived in poverty. Liu Zongyuan and others tried to advocate reform, but failed miserably. He was persecuted and hit.
Liu Zongyuan's opposition to the concept of destiny and idealism is actually against tyranny, eunuch dictatorship and corrupt officials.
In addition, influenced by his mother, Liu Zongyuan has a good understanding of Buddhism, which has some atheistic elements (Buddhism believes that God and man are ordinary people), which is one of the ideological roots of Liu Zongyuan's opposition to the concept of destiny and idealism.
In order to maintain the traditional Taoism and Confucianism in China, Han Yu strongly opposed Buddhism. As a good friend of Han, there was a fierce debate on Zongyuan, and no one persuaded anyone.
"Tian Shuo" and "Tian Dui" are the representative works of Liu Zongyuan's ideological field, and they are also the aspirations of a reformist.
The traditional literati in China have a tradition of "begging for life and remonstrating with the country" since ancient times. So fundamentally speaking, there is no difference between Liu Zongyuan and Han Yu, and there is no difference between Liu Zongyuan and Qu Yuan.