The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

by Liu Hsieh, Vincent Yu-Chung Shih (Translation)

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 scholars 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 “Choice of Style,” “Emotion and Literary Expression,” “Humor and Enigma,” “Spiritual Thought or Imagination,” “The Nourishing of Vitality,” and “Literary Flaws.”

“Mind” is the ideas, impressions, and emotions that take form—the “carving of the dragon”—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 alien and familiar. 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.

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Literary Fiction, Criticism, Poetry

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a scholar of Chinese poetry nor of Chinese history, and so some of the book, (such as when Liu Hsieh lists through the various emperors) drags. Still his insight into the making of poetry, and the universality and simplicity of what he says about writing poetry, surely can't be denied. Like the criticism of Aristotle or Longinus, this too feels dated at times, but also brilliant.

[Ring Chime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this quite a bit. I do think that there were some decisions made by the translator and editor that could have been better: Using pinyin instead of the romanization method they chose, placing the Chinese character next to the romanization so it wouldn't be so confusing when they used those terms and to help out those who do have SOME knowledge of Chinese even if it isn't a lot. Liu Xie is an influential and insightful man and his opinions, knowledge, and guidance are mostly helpful, useful, and valuable, although I do find his 'wind' and 'bone' a bit confusing. Taking Liu Xie's insights and knowledge and pairing it up with other pieces of Chinese writing lets one get a much broader and better grasp of the development of China's literary culture than they otherwise might have had.