Health and the art of living : illness narratives in early medieval Chinese literature / Antje Richter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richter, Antje, author.

Series:

Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ; 145.

Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ; 145

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese literature--220-589--History and criticism.

Chinese literature.

Health in literature.

Diseases in literature.

Chinese literature--Themes, motives.

Literature and medicine--China--History.

Literature and medicine.

Buddhist literature--China--History and criticism.

Buddhist literature.

Buddhist literature--History and criticism.

Chinese literature--History and criticism.

Literature and medicine--History.

China.

Genre:

Translations

Physical Description:

xx, 263 pages ; 24 cm.

Distribution:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Distributed by Harvard University Press

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Asia Center, 2025.

Language Note:

English ; excerpts in Chinese with English translation.

Summary:

"This book offers reflections on health and illness in early medieval Chinese literature (ca. 200-ca. 600). Surveying a range of literary sources-essays, prefaces, correspondence, religious scriptures, and poetry-it explores the spectrum of views on health and illness expressed in these texts. Part I, centered on the essay "Nurturing the Vital Breath" in Liu Xie's Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, reveals the deep concern of writers, troubled by overwork and excessive mental exertion, with the preservation and cultivation of their literary creativity. For them, the ability to write was inextricably connected with their social roles as officials. Part II turns to self-narratives of health and illness in authorial prefaces, informal notes, formal letters, and official communications. Writers of these texts depicted their physical condition according to specific rhetorical purposes, whether that was to legitimize authorship, maintain intimate relationships, or avoid office. Part III describes the rise of sickbed poetry, shaped by Xie Lingyun and the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, which established illness as a topic in the refined literature of the period. Drawing attention to the rootedness of literature in the lived experience of their creators, this book illuminates the conditions of literary production in early medieval China."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Rise of the Health Humanities

Concepts and Terminology

Health and Illness

Illness, Sickness, Disease

Scope and Content of This Book

Part I. Between Self-Care and Self-Harm: Health and Creativity in Liu Xie's "Nurturing the Vital Breath"

Writing about Nurturing Life: A Chinese Literary Tradition

The Vital Breath, or qi, as Dominant Factor for Literature and as Exhaustible Resource

Foundational Observations: Acknowledging Human Predisposition

Literary History as a History of Growing Mental Exhaustion

Accepting Differences in Age and Talent: Shallow Prodigies versus Overthinking Elders and Ducks on Tiptoe versus Long-Legged Cranes

Writers Wearing Out Their Spirit: Cautionary Tales

An Internal Digression: Tortured Writing in "Spirit Thought"

External Digressions: Death by Candlelight and Other Warnings

Introducing the Idea of Deliberate Self-Harm

External Digressions, Continued: Book Mania in China and Europe

Dealing with Writer's Block and Other Obstacles

The Encomium: Summation and Exaltation

Literati Bodies Between Sanctioned Self-Harm and Self-Preservation

Part II. Writing the Sick Self: Autobiographical Accounts of Health and Illness. Chapter 1. The Body in the Paratext: Five Authorial Prefaces and a Letter

Sima Qian: Writing the Damaged Self

Wang Chong: Innate Vigor and Aging

Cao Pi: Self-Portrait of the Crown Prince as an Athlete and Warrior

Ge Hong: Physical Defects as Emblems of Distinction

Xiao Yi: Coming to Terms with Illness and Impairment

Chapter 2. Corresponding Bodies: Health and Illness in Epistolary Genres

Omitted, Obscured, Edited Out: Health and Illness in Letter-Writing

The Ailing Doctor: Huangfu Mi's Memorial Declining the Summons to Office

Not a Digression: Pretending to Be Sick in Chinese Literature

Wang Xizhi's Notes: Self-portrait of the Artist as a Sick Man

Life-Changing Illness in Tao Qian's Letter to His Sons

Illness and Recovery as a Time to Grow: Yu He's Memorial about Calligraphy

Far From Reticence: Shen Yue's Epistolary Modes of Self-Revelation

Selfhood, Public Persona, and Health in Early Medieval Self-Narratives

Part III. Teaching from the Sickbed: Notions of Health and Illness in the Vimalakīrti Sutra and Chinese Poetry. Chapter 3. Health and Illness in the Vimalakīrti Sutra

Content and Narrative Features of the Vimalakīrti Sutra

Digression: Sickbed Visits in Early Chinese Literature-Everyday Practice and Exceptional Opportunity

Vimalakīrti Teaching about Illness

Chapter 4. Emulating Vimalakīrti in Early Medieval Chinese Poetry

Poems Written While Lying Sick: An Overview

Xie Lingyun: "Lying Sick with Much Happy Leisure"

Huijing: "Suffering Brought Me to a Halt"

Wang Zhou: "In the City of Vaiśālī Lived an Elder"

Looking Ahead: The Flourishing of Sickbed Poetry in the Tang

Afterword.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Richter, Antje. Health and the art of living

ISBN:

9780674299986

0674299981

OCLC:

1492379081

Publisher Number:

CIPO000254514