Articles as Eternal Things: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons in the Confucian Perspective  

Qi Liangde

Abstract:During the research course of The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons for nearly a century, the studies have been stayed mainly in the aesthetic perspective. Although fruitful results have been achieved, we are more and more distant from the reality of Liu Xie and his book. “Wen” in the concept of Liu was the sum of what we call “literature” and “articles” today. The original intention of Liu Xie writing The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons was to study the “article and education” as one of the four Confucian leitmotivs. The reason why he said “is there any possibility for a man learning to write articles but not aiming at the political affairs?” was that “article” and “politics” are inextricably linked. The ability in article concerns the ability in politics, and learning article will inevitably lead to learning politics. Therefore, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is not only a book of aesthetics and introduction to literature, which is significant to the so-called “literary creation”, but also a book of grammatology, of secretarial studies, and even of journalism. It focuses on one’s ability and accomplishment in writing and culture, and then focuses on one’s humanistic cultivation as well as basic capacity, thus concerns one’s circumstances in life and whole career. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons should be a textbook on cultural cultivation and article writing in both ancient and modern times.