The Literary Mind And The Carving Of Dragons: A Study Of Thought And Pattern In Chinese Literature
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
One of the most ambitious and enduring works in classical Chinese literary criticism, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons — originally composed by Liu Xie during the Southern Qi dynasty (c. 5th century AD) — stands as the definitive treatise on the principles of literary composition and aesthetic thought in ancient China. This authoritative Chinese-English bilingual edition, translated and annotated by Vincent Yu-chung Shih, presents Liu Xie's exhaustive analysis of thought, style, and pattern across the full spectrum of Chinese literary forms, from poetry and prose to rhetoric and philosophical writing. Shih's meticulous scholarship renders this monumental text accessible to Western readers, offering precise annotations that illuminate the historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts underpinning each of Liu Xie's fifty chapters. Beyond its function as a technical manual for writers, the work argues for a cosmic and moral foundation to literature, drawing on Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist thought to position literary creation as a reflection of universal order. Shih's translation preserves the elegance and intellectual rigour of the original, making this edition an indispensable resource for scholars of comparative literature, sinology, and classical aesthetics alike. For anyone seeking to understand the deep intellectual architecture that shaped two millennia of Chinese writing, this volume presents an irresistible and transformative encounter.
Author: Vincent Yu-Chung Shih
Format: Hardback
Published: 1983, The Chinese University Press
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
One of the most ambitious and enduring works in classical Chinese literary criticism, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons — originally composed by Liu Xie during the Southern Qi dynasty (c. 5th century AD) — stands as the definitive treatise on the principles of literary composition and aesthetic thought in ancient China. This authoritative Chinese-English bilingual edition, translated and annotated by Vincent Yu-chung Shih, presents Liu Xie's exhaustive analysis of thought, style, and pattern across the full spectrum of Chinese literary forms, from poetry and prose to rhetoric and philosophical writing. Shih's meticulous scholarship renders this monumental text accessible to Western readers, offering precise annotations that illuminate the historical, philosophical, and cultural contexts underpinning each of Liu Xie's fifty chapters. Beyond its function as a technical manual for writers, the work argues for a cosmic and moral foundation to literature, drawing on Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist thought to position literary creation as a reflection of universal order. Shih's translation preserves the elegance and intellectual rigour of the original, making this edition an indispensable resource for scholars of comparative literature, sinology, and classical aesthetics alike. For anyone seeking to understand the deep intellectual architecture that shaped two millennia of Chinese writing, this volume presents an irresistible and transformative encounter.