![Album of 18 Daoist Paintings - 7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Album_of_18_Daoist_Paintings_-_7.jpg)
Lie Yukou (; ) is considered the author of the
Daoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
book ''
Liezi
The ''Liezi'' () is a Taoist text attributed to Lie Yukou, a c. 5th century BC Hundred Schools of Thought philosopher. Although there were references to Lie's ''Liezi'' from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, a number of Chinese and Western schola ...
'', which uses his honorific name Liezi ().
Name
The second
Chinese character
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...
in Yukou is written ''kou'' "bandit; enemy"; the first is written ''yu'' "imprison", ''yu'' "resist; ward off", or occasionally ''yu'' "drive (carriage); ride (horse); control" (th
''Zhuangzi''claims Liezi could ''yufeng'' "ride the wind").
Early life
Lie Yukou was born in the
State of Zheng
Zheng (; ; Old Chinese: *') was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–221 BCE) located in the centre of ancient China in modern-day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was th ...
, near today's
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
,
Henan Province
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
.
History
There is little historical evidence of Lie Yukou as a
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought () were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China.
An era of substantial discrimination in China, ...
philosopher during the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
. This could be due to the
burning of books and burying of scholars
The burning of books and burying of scholars (), also known as burning the books and executing the ru scholars, refers to the purported burning of texts in 213 BCE and live burial of 460 Confucian scholars in 212 BCE by the Chinese emperor Qin ...
which occurred during the reign of
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...
. However, some scholars believe that the ''Zhuangzi'' invented him as a Daoist exemplar.
Frederic H. Balfour, who translated several Taoist texts, called Liezi "a philosopher who never lived" (1887:?)
Lionel Giles
Lionel Giles (29 December 1875 – 22 January 1958) was a British sinologist, writer, and philosopher. Lionel Giles served as assistant curator at the British Museum and Keeper of the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books. He is ...
expresses doubt in his Introduction:
Very little is known of our author beyond what he tells us himself. His full name was Lieh Yü-k'ou, and it appears that he was living in the Chêng State not long before the year 398 BC, when the Prime Minister Tzu Yang was killed in a revolution. He figures prominently in the pages of Chuang Tzu, from whom we learn that he could 'ride upon the wind'. On the insufficient ground that he is not mentioned by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien, a certain critic of the Sung dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
was led to declare that Lieh Tzu was only a fictitious personage invented by Chuang Tzu, and that the treatise which passes under his name was a forgery of later times. This theory is rejected by the compilers of the great Catalogue of Ch‘ien Lung's Library, who represent the cream of Chinese scholarship in the eighteenth century.
In the above quote Mr. Lionel Giles may have been refuting his father
Herbert Allen Giles
Herbert Allen Giles (, 8 December 184513 February 1935) was a British diplomat and sinologist who was the professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge for 35 years. Giles was educated at Charterhouse School before becoming a British dip ...
, who wrote of Lie Yukou or Lieh-Tzu in his translation of Chuang Tzu. Here is his quote which runs as follows:
The extent of the actual mischief done by this " Burning of the Books " has been greatly exaggerated. Still, the mere attempt at such a holocaust gave a fine chance to the scholars of the later Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(A.D. 25-221), who seem to have enjoyed nothing so much as forging, if not the whole, at any rate portions, of the works of ancient authors. Some one even produced a treatise under the name of Lieh Tzu, a philosopher mentioned by Chuang Tzu, not seeing that the individual in question was a creation of Chuang Tzu's brain!
References
Further reading
*
Balfour, Frederic H. ''Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook''. London: Trubner. 1887. Reprint. 2001.
*
Giles, Lionel, tr. ''Taoist Teachings from the Book of Lieh-Tzŭ''. London: Wisdom of the East. 1912.
*Giles, Herbert A., tr. ''Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist and Social Reformer''. London: Bernard Quaritch 1889.
External links
Lieh-tzu: A Biographical Note Taoism Initiation Page
* ''
Taoist teachings from the book of Lieh Tzŭ
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
'', Giles' translation at Wikisource
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lie, Yukou
Zhou dynasty Taoists
4th-century BC Chinese people
Zhou dynasty philosophers
4th-century BC Chinese philosophers
Taoist immortals