Liu Xiang (scholar)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu.

Liu Xiang
Born	Liu Gengsheng 77 BCE Xuzhou, Han dynasty
Died	6 BCE (aged 71)
Issue	Liu Xin
Father	Liu De, Marquis Miao of Yangcheng
Religion	Confucianism
Occupation	Astronomer, historian, librarian, poet, politician, writer

Liu Xiang
Traditional Chinese	劉向
Simplified Chinese	刘向
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Xiàng Gwoyeu Romatzyh Liou Shianq Wade–Giles Liu Hsiang IPA [ljǒʊ ɕjâŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làuh Heung Jyutping Lau4 Hoeng3 IPA [lɐw˩ hœŋ˧] Southern Min Tâi-lô Lâu Hiòng Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Ljuw Xjàng Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *mə-ru n̥ang-s
Liu Gengsheng
Traditional Chinese	劉更生
Simplified Chinese	刘更生
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Liú Gēngshēng Wade–Giles Liu Kêng-shêng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Lau4 Gang1 Sang1
Courtesy Name
Chinese	子政
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zǐzhèng Wade–Giles Tzŭ-chêng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Zi1 Zing3

Liu Xiang (77–6 BCE), born Liu Gengsheng and bearing the courtesy name Zizheng, was a Chinese astronomer, historian, librarian, poet, politician, and writer of the Western Han dynasty. Among his polymathic scholarly specialties were history, literary bibliography, and astronomy. He is particularly well known for his bibliographic work in cataloging and editing the extensive imperial library.

Life

Liu Gengsheng was born in Xuzhou. Being a distant relative of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty, he was a member of the ruling dynastic clan (the Liu family). Liu Xiang's father ranked as a marquess. Liu Xiang's son, Liu Xin, would continue the scholarly tradition of his father and his relative Liu An (the Prince of Huainan).

By the beginning of Emperor Yuan's reign, Liu Xiang was a member of a group of Confucian officials, including Xiao Wangzhi, who wished to limit the power of the emperor's female family members relatives' clans, the Shi and the Xu. He ended up on the losing side of a power struggle between the powerful eunuch's Hong Gong and Shi Xian. Briefly imprisoned, Liu Xiang was terminated from his official position, and he received no new appointments to the office for the next fifteen years.

The succession of Emperor Cheng to the imperial throne was accompanied by a realignment of power among the various factions involved in government, and Liu Xiang was able to revive his official prospects. In 26 BCE, at the command of the emperor, Liu Xiang spent much of the rest of the 20-odd years of his life engaged in the massive bibliographic work of organizing the imperial library. This work was assisted by his son, Liu Xin, who finally completed the task after his father's death.

Works

Liu compiled the first catalogue of the imperial library, the Abstracts (別錄, Bielu), and is the first known editor of the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing), which was finished by his son. Liu also edited collections of stories and biographies, including the Strategies of the Warring States (Zhanguoce), the New Prefaces (新序, Xinxu), the Garden of Stories (說苑, Shuoyuan), and the Biographies of Exemplary Women (Lienüzhuan). He has long erroneously been credited with compiling the Biographies of the Immortals (Liexian Zhuan), a collection of Taoist hagiographies and hymns.

Liu Xiang was also a poet. He is credited with the "Nine Laments" ("Jiu Tan") that appears in the Songs of Chu.

See also

• Confucian classics
• Guodian Chu Slips
• Liu An
• Science and technology of the Han dynasty
• Sima Qian
• Sima Tan

References

• Fei, Zhengang, "Liu Xiang". Encyclopedia of China (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
• Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011 [1985]). Qu Yuan et al., The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044375-2
• Loewe, Michael. (1986). "The Former Han Dynasty," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220, 103–222. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24327-0.

External links

• Works by Xiang Liu at Project Gutenberg