The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is a comprehensive and systematically structured work of literary theory authored by Liu Xie, a literary theorist of the Southern Dynasties period in China. Completed around 501–502 CE (during the first and second years of the Zhongxing era of Emperor He of the Southern Qi dynasty), the book draws on the divinatory principles of the Book of Changes, dividing its discourse into fifty chapters to explore literary theory. While referencing certain concepts from Lu Ji's The Literary Expositor of the Western Jin dynasty, it also offers critiques and further developments of earlier ideas. This work systematically addresses the relationship between literary form and content, as well as between tradition and innovation. It meticulously examines the aesthetic nature of language and literature, delving into the principles governing literary creation and appreciation. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons introduces numerous profound and enduring concepts, such as: "Achieving richness of meaning through economy of words, conveying far-reaching implications through familiar subjects", "Subtlety as a stylistic form, where significance lies beyond the literal text", "The layered meaning beyond the words", and "Ensuring the reader finds endless fascination and enduring satisfaction in its appreciation."

Liu Xie
Liu Xie courtesy name Yanhe, was a Chinese literary theorist and critic in history. He was the author of China's greatest work of literary aesthetics, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. He started writing the book since he was thirty-two. It took him five years to finish it. His biography is included in the Liangshu.
A native of today's Zhenjiang, Liu's traced his ancestry to Shandong. He was orphaned in his youth and chose not to marry, either because of poverty or conviction (or both). Liu studied Buddhism with Sengyou and helped edit sutras at the Dinglin Monastery until his death during the Liang Dynasty.