The literary mind and the carving of dragons / by Liu Hsieh ; translated by Vincent Yu-chung Shih.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Liu, Xie, approximately 465-approximately 522.

Contributor:

Shi, Youzhong, 1902- translator.

Series:

Calligrams

Standardized Title:

Wen xin diao long. English

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Chinese literature.

Physical Description:

lxix, 352 pages ; 22 cm.

Edition:

Revised edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press/New York Review Books, [2015]

Summary:

The world is filled with ten thousand things in confusion: Never overtax your literary thought. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is the first comprehensive work of literary criticism in Chinese, and one that has been considered essential reading for writers and critics since it was written some 1,500 years ago. A vast compendium of all that was known about Chinese literature at the time, it is simultaneously a taxonomy and history of genres and styles, and a manual for good writing. Its chapters, organized according to the I Ching, cover such topics as "Emotion and Literary Expression," "Humor and Enigma," "Spiritual Thought or Imagination," "The Nourishing of Vitality" "Organization," and "Literary Flaws." "Mind" is the ideas, impressions, and emotions that take form-the "carving of the dragonö-in a literary work. Full of examples and delightful anecdotes drawn from Liu Hsieh's encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese literature, readers will discover distinctive concepts and standards of the art of writing that are both familiar and strange. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is not only a summa of classical Chinese literary aesthetics but also a wellspring of advice from the distant past on how to write. Book jacket.

Contents:

I On Too, the Source (Yüan-Tao) 8

II Evidence from the Sage (Cheng-sheng) 15

III The Classics as Literary Sources (Tsung-ching) 20

IV Emendation of Apocrypha (Cheng-wei) 27

V An Analysis of Sao (Pien-Sao) 32

VI An Exegesis of Poetry (Ming-shin) 40

VII Musical Poetry (Yüeh-fu) 50

VIII Elucidation of Fu (Ch'üan-fu) 59

IX Ode and Pronouncement (Sung Tsan) 65

X Sacrificial Prayer and Oath of Agreement (Chu Meng) 71

XI Inscription and Exhortation (Ming Chen) 78

XII Elegy and Stone Inscription (Lei Pei) 85

XIII Lament and Condolence (Ai Tiao) 91

XIV Miscellaneous Writings (Tsa-wen) 97

XV Humor and Enigma (Hsieh Yin) 103

XVI Historical Writings (Shih-chuan) 111

XVII Speculative Writings (Chu-tzu) 125

XVIII Treatise and Discussion (Lun Shuo) 134

XIX Edict and Script (Chao Ts'e) 144

XX War Proclamation and Dispatch (Hsi I) 154

XXI Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth (Feng-shan) 161

XXII Memorial, Part I (Chang Piao) 167

XXIII Memorial, Part II (Tsou Ck'i) 173

XXIV Discussion and Answer (I Tui) 181

XXV Epistolary Writing (Shu Chi) 191

XXVI Spiritual Thought or Imagination (Shen-ssu) 204

XXVII Style and Nature (T'i-hsing) 210

XXVIII The Wind and the Bone (Feng-ku) 215

XXIX Flexible Adaptability to Varying Situations (T'ung-pien) 219

XXX On Choice of Style (Ting-shih) 224

XXXI Emotion and Literary Expression (Ch'ing-ts' al) 230

XXXII Casting and Cutting, or, on Editing of Ideas and Rhetoric (Jung-ts 'ai) 236

XXXIII Musicalness (Sheng-lü) 240

XXXIV Paragraph and Sentence (Chang-chü) 245

XXXV Linguistic Parallelism (Li-tz'u) 251

XXXVI Metaphor (Pi Hsing) 257

XXXVII Hyperbole (K' ua-shih) 262

XXXVIII Factual Allusion and Textual Reference (Shih-lei) 267

XXXIX Philology and Choice of Words (Lien-tzu) 275

XI The Recondite and the Conspicuous (Yin-hsiu) 283

XLI Literary Flaws (Chih-hsia) 286

XLII The Nourishing of Vitality (Yang-ch'i) 293

XLIII Organization (Fu-hui) 298

XLIV Discussion on the Art of Writing (Tsung-shu) 303

XLV Literary Development and Time (Shih-hsü) 308

XLVI The Physical World (Wu-se) 323

XLVII Literary Talents (Ts 'ai-lüeh) 329

XLVIII An Understanding Critic (Chih-yin) 340

XLIX The Capacity of a Vessel (Ch' eng-ch'i) 347.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9789629965853

9629965852

OCLC:

892514252