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Liu Xin (scholar)

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In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisLiu.
Liu Xin
Traditional ChineseLưu Hâm
Simplified ChineseLưu Hâm
Courtesy name
Traditional ChineseTử tuấn
Simplified ChineseTử tuấn

Liu Xin(c. 46 BCE– 23 CE),courtesy nameZijun,was a Chinese astronomer, classicist, librarian, mathematician, and politician during theWestern HanandXin dynasties.He later changed his name toLiu Xiu(Lưu tú) due to thenaming tabooofEmperor Ai of Han.He was the son of Imperial librarianLiu Xiangand an associate of other eminent thinkers such as the philosopherHuan Tan.[1]Liu was a prominent supporter of theOld Textclassics.

Early life[edit]

Liu Xin was the son of Confucian scholarLiu Xiang(77–6 BCE). Liu was a distant relative ofLiu Bang,the founder of the Han dynasty, and was thus a member of the ruling dynastic clan (theLiu family). Liu Xin's paternal grandfather ranked as ahou(Hầu,roughly 'marquess').[2]As a young man, Liu helped his father in cataloguing the contents of the imperial library, and his friendship with the well-connected minister Wang Mang brought him power and rewards,[3]rising underEmperor Ai of Hanto the rank of Palace Attendant and Chief Commandant of Imperial Equipages (Hầu trung Phụng xa Đô úy).[4]: 763 

Literary work[edit]

Librarian[edit]

As a curator of the imperial library he was the first to establish alibrary classificationsystem and the first book notation system. At this time thelibrary catalogwas written on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags.[5]Liu Xin'sQilüe(Bảy lược;"Seven Surveys" ) has not survived, but it formed the basis for the later bibliographic treatiseYiwenzhi(Nghệ văn chí;"Treatise on Arts and Letters" ) in theBook of Han,[4]: 764 which acted as a model for later imperial bibliographies.

As the imperial librarian, Liu Xin both catalogued and annotated or edited ancient texts. These projects of his produced what became definitive texts of a number of orthodox canons of Chinese philosophy and history.

Liu Xin played an important role in the transmission of theZuozhuan.A scholar of theOld Textsschool, he was attracted to theZuozhuan'searlier graphical forms, whose inaccessibility deterred the compound exegesis found in the rivalChunqiucommentarial traditions.[6]In editing theZuozhuanwith the assistance of Yin Xian (Doãn hàm), Liu rearranged the material into chronological order to map more neatly onto theChunqiuchronicle as theGongyangandGuliangcommentaries did.[7]He aimed to have an imperial academician assigned to the work, a crucial bureaucratic step towards canonization in the official orthodoxy.[3]

Liu's advocacy for theZuozhuanwas controversial in his own day, partly due to its lineage and prior reputation, and partly due to his own approach towards the situation.[8]This scholarly dispute is sometimes taken as evidence for a larger dispute about classic texts written using variant scripts.

Old Text proponent[edit]

During Liu Xin's career, there may have been some debate about certain texts calledguwen(Cổ văn,"Ancient Script Texts"). One set of manuscripts discovered byKong Anguoin theWestern Hanwas consistently labeled asguwenowing to the graphical forms it preserved, a script which had diverged during theEastern Zhoufrom the more conservative script of the state ofQinwhich became the official and only standard following their unification in 221 BCE. As a consequence of the variant graphical forms, parts of the text were already difficult to decipher for Han scholars.

It is not clear to what extent the content ofguwenworks differed from the transmitted versions of the same titles, nor what criteria allowed for labeling a documentguwen.It may have been the case that even a handful of words would suffice to impart this characteristic upon the text that contained them.[9]

Liu Xin was attracted toguwentexts, and his position in the imperial library meant he was well placed to ensure that these versions would officially be considered the authoritative ones.[10]: 212–213 

Integrity of transmitted literature[edit]

From the 19th through early 20th centuries, antiquarians and historians, beginning withKang Youwei,accused Liu of excessive editing, to the point of falsifying historical texts.[11]: 136 These criticisms were systematically analysed by theDoubting Antiquity Schoolof historians. According to their theory, first articulated byQian Muin 1930,[12]Liu edited ancient texts for political purposes, particularly theRites of Zhou,theZuozhuan,[13]: 49 and the Mao commentary to theShijing.[14]This accusation of forgery had legitimate precedent: in the late 17th centuryYan Ruoqudemonstrated that the transmittedClassic of Historywas mostly a forgery dating to the 4th century. This text had been based on the Ancient Script version, and only the parts that were present in the separately transmitted New Script version could be considered authentically early.[15]

Liu Xin was a political ally of the powerful and divisive ministerWang Mang,who would go on to usurp the Han dynasty around the turn of the millennium for a brief period known as theXin dynasty.As the imperial librarian, Liu had the power to establish the definitive redactions of ancient texts and expunge variant versions. According to his accusers, the librarian falsified accounts of ancient historical events,[16]and inserted into the legendary lineage of ancient rulers figures or relationships that were either invented, or borrowed from separate legends. In this way, he created a narrative of ancient rulers and successive dynasties which satisfied the "five phases"theory, wherein each ruler and/or dynasty represented one of the five traditional Chinese elements, between which theMandate of Heavenrotated. An account thus falsified would satisfactorily explain the rule of the Han and Xin dynasties in terms of the phases they were said to represent, and according to the forgery theory, Liu Xin's edited account conveniently showed a series of successions between various claimed ancestors of the Han and Xin houses.

The possibility of Liu Xin's forgeries became a crucial question for the Doubting Antiquity School in their search for arationalistpast for China.[17]: 152 They drew evidence from discrepancies between the texts edited by Liu and earlier or contemporaneous texts. For example, figures or events appearing in Liu's edited versions did not appear in earlier or contemporaneous texts. The forgery theory has been largely discredited.[13]: 49 

Scientific work[edit]

Wang Mang'sjialiang,used by Liu Xin in scientific measurements, held in theNational Palace Museum,Taipei.
See also:Chinese units of measurementandScience and technology of the Han dynasty

Calculation of pi (π)[edit]

For centuries before the usurpation ofWang Mang(r. 9–23), the Chinese had used the value of 3 for their calculation ofpi,[18]the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Some time between the years 1 and 5, Liu Xin was the first Chinese researcher to give a geometrical figure which implies the improved approximation π ≈ 3.1547,[19]although the exact method he used to reach this figure is unknown.[20]The originaljialianghustandardLiu Xin designed and used in his measurements is still extant.[21]SinologistJoseph Needhaminspected it in Beijing, describing it as follows:

The standardisedchia liang hu(has) a square with each side 1chhih(foot) long, and outside it a circle. The distance from each corner of the square to the circle (thiao phang) is 9li5hao.The area of the circle (mu) is 162 (square)tshun(inches), the depth 1chhih(foot), and the volume (of the whole) 1620 (cubic)tshun(inches).[20]

Later early Chinese mathematicians such asZhang Heng(78–139) andLiu Hui(fl. 3rd century) would improve Liu's calculation for pi,[22]and were improved upon in turn byZu Chongzhi(429–500).

Standards and measures[edit]

As Emperor of Xin, Wang Mang attempted to return to the lost ways of the ancient sage-kings, a golden age of order and peace. Assisting him in some of the practicalities of this ambition was Liu Xin. Upon ascending the throne, Wang Mang named Liu Xin hisGuoshi(Quốc sư,"Professor Laureate" ), a newly created office which was one of the Four Viziers (Bốn phụ,named after a legend abouta constellation), the most powerful and exalted ministers in the empire. As part of the rebranding schema implemented across the government, Liu Xin gained the noble title "Eminence of New Excellence"(Gia tân công).[23]He assisted in standardising the measures of liquid volume and the harmonic frequencies of musical instruments. Thejialiang huused to calculate pi was designed as thestandardfor the five measures of liquid volume stipulated by statute, and was constructed with a separate compartment for each of them.[24]

In the course of his scientific work, Liu wrote a treatise which survives in theBook of Han:Lüli zhi(Luật lịch chí,"Treatise on Standards and Calendrics" ).[25]This text records detailed information about Han dynasty mathematics, measures of length and volume, harmonics, weights and balances, and the calendar viawu xingtheory.[26]

Astronomy and natural philosophy[edit]

As a classicist, Liu Xin was able to support the legitimation of his patron Wang Mang as a restorer of an ancient mode of governance,[27]and as a proponent and theorist of the "generative cycle"of the popular" five phases "theory,[28]: 569 Liu advised the new emperor on ritual matters to better accord with these fundamental essences.[29]Liu additionally developed a new more accurate model of astronomy, the Triple Concordance calendar (Tam thống lịch;San tong li), for predicting the motion of heavenly bodies.[30]In the second half of the 20th century, acrateronMarswas named in his honor.[31]

Death[edit]

Although Liu Xin was originally a loyal partisan of Wang Mang, after Wang's troops suffered defeat on July 7, 23 at theBattle of Kunyang,Liu Xin plotted with others to overthrow Wang Mang. The plot was discovered, and all the conspirators committed suicide or were executed.[32]

References[edit]

  1. ^Loewe, Michael(2000).A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (221 BC - AD 24).Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 4: China. Vol. 16. Brill. pp. 383–386.ISBN978-9-004-10364-1.
  2. ^Qu Yuan;Song Yu(1985) [300s to 200sBCE].The Songs of the South.Translated byDavid Hawkes.Penguin Classics. p. 330.ISBN978-0-14-044375-2.
  3. ^abZuo Tradition(2016),p. lv.
  4. ^abHunter, Michael (2018)."The" Yiwen zhi "Nghệ văn chí (Treatise on Arts and Letters) Bibliography in Its Own Context".Journal of the American Oriental Society.138(4): 763–780.doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.138.4.0763.JSTOR10.7817/jameroriesoci.138.4.0763.
  5. ^Lee, Hur-Li (2012). "Epistemic foundation of bibliographic classification in early China: ARuclassicist perspective ".Journal of Documentation.68(3): 378–401.doi:10.1108/00220411211225593.
  6. ^Zuo Tradition(2016),p. lvi.
  7. ^Zuo Tradition(2016),p. lvii.
  8. ^Nylan (1994),pp. 102–104.
  9. ^Nylan (1994),pp. 88–97.
  10. ^Lee, Hur‐Li; Lan, Wen‐Chin (April 2009). "Purposes and Bibliographic Objectives of a Pioneer Library Catalog in China".The Library Quarterly.79(2). University of Chicago Press: 205–231.doi:10.1086/597081.JSTOR10.1086/597081.
  11. ^Puett, Michael (2010). "Centering The Realm: Wang Mang, TheZhouli,And Early Chinese Statecraft ". InBenjamin Elman;Martin Kern (eds.).Statecraft and Classical Learning: TheRituals of Zhouin East Asian History.Studies in the History of Chinese Texts, Vol. 1. Brill. pp. 129–154.doi:10.1163/ej.9789004177499.i-446.23.ISBN978-90-47-43093-3.
  12. ^Qian Mu(1930).Lưu hướng hâm phụ tử niên phổ[Chronology of the father and son Liu Xiang and Liu Xin].Yến Kinh học báo[Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies]. No. 7.
  13. ^abKern, Martin (2010). "Early Chinese literature, beginnings through Western Han". InKang-i Sun Chang;Stephen Owen(eds.).The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature.Volume 1: To 1375.Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–115.doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521855587.003.ISBN9781139095419.
  14. ^Nylan (1994),p. 84.
  15. ^Nylan (1994),p. 83.
  16. ^Dillon, Michael (2013)."Liu Xin Lưu Hâm (?46 BC – AD 23)".China: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary.Routledge. p. 199.ISBN9781136791413.
  17. ^Ess, Hans Van (1994). "The Old Text/New Text Controversy. Has the 20th Century Got It Wrong?".T'oung Pao.80(1). Brill: 146–170.doi:10.1163/156853294X00098.JSTOR4528623.
  18. ^Needham 1986,Volume 3, p. 99.
  19. ^Zhou Liangwu ( Triệu lương năm ) (1991).Trung Quốc và Phương Tây toán học sử tương đối[A Comparative History of Chinese and Western Mathematics] (in Chinese). Taiwan Commercial Printing House. pp. 44–47.ISBN9789570502688.
  20. ^abNeedham 1986,Volume 3, p. 100.
  21. ^Loewe (2016),pp. 219, 222, 235.
  22. ^Needham 1986,Volume 3, pp. 100–101.
  23. ^Book of Han(111),vol. 99b.
  24. ^Loewe (2016),pp. 145–146.
  25. ^Liu Xin.Luật lịch chí[Treatise on Standards and Calendrics].inBook of Han111,vol. 21.
  26. ^Loewe (2016),p. 148.
  27. ^Cullen (1996),p. 31.
  28. ^Sivin, Nathan(2001). "Review:Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China.Cambridge Studies in Chinese History, Literature and Institutions, vol. 20 by Aihe Wang ".China Review International.8(2): 566–572.JSTOR23732097.
  29. ^Cullen (1996),p. 32.
  30. ^Cullen (1996),pp. 32–33.
  31. ^Sagan, Carl(7 March 1976)."No planet named George".The New York Times.pp. SM 10–11.
  32. ^Bielenstein (1986),pp. 247–248.

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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