Liu Xie’s Study Method in Early Life

Author: Chang-Hoong Yap (Department of Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 59, No. 1
Date：March 2014
Pages：95-122
DOI：10.6210/JNTNULL.2014.59(1).05

Abstract：

Liu Xie, the author of Wenxin Diaolong, experienced 3 stages in his life. He was sheltered in a temple as an informal disciple of Buddhism before serving in the government. After accomplishing a mission that the empire assigned to compile sutras, he forsook the secular world and became a monk. Liu Xie took advantage of staying in the temple and court, reading numerous books and socializing with eminent literati and monks. Wenxin Diaolong and certain other works demonstrate that Liu Xie absorbed knowledge and expanded his viewpoint during these periods. However, confusion exists regarding Liu Xie’s study methods during the extensive period before his first engagement with the temple (23-24 years old). Liu Xie and his contemporaries could only study in official government schools, inherit scholarships from the prior generations of their clans, or to learn through ersonal effort. Mou Shijin suggested that Liu Xie might have formed the foundation of his knowledge through individual learning, but did not expand on this intuitional but tenable idea. Most subsequent researchers have avoided this topic, causing it to become an unsettled case in the study of Liu Xie. This study may fill in the blanks and support Mou Shijin’s speculation by providing supplementary evidence, particularly by excluding the possibilities that Liu Xie to enroll in official schools or depend on his family for education.

Keywords：study method in early life, individual study, official schools, family education, Liu Xie

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