Liu Kezhuang

Life

His father, Liu Mizheng (劉彌正), served as Minister of Personnel under Emperor Ningzong; Liu Kezhuang studied under Zhen Dexiu (真德秀). His father-in-law was Lin Zhuan (林瑑); his wife was Lin Jie (林節), followed by a second wife from the Lin family. His brothers were Liu Kexun (劉克遜) and Liu Kegang (劉克剛), and his sister was married to Fang Cai (方采). His three sons were Liu Qiangfu (劉強甫), Liu Mingfu (劉明甫), and Liu Shanfu (劉山甫); he also had a son-in-law, Chen Yan (陳琰), two grandsons-in-law, Fang Gongquan (方公權) and Fang Guangweng (方廣翁), and a maternal cousin, Fang Yu (方遇). He was a friend of Han Piao, Chen Qi, and Lin Xiyi; Lin Xiyi also wrote a preface to his collected works.

In the second year of the Jiading era (1209), he entered office through hereditary privilege and received the rank of Jiangshilang. His early appointments included registrar of Jing'an County, an assistant in the Fuzhou judicial office, registrar of Zhenzhou, and vice-prefect of Chaozhou and Jizhou. After completing mourning for his father, he returned to service, superintended Nanyue Temple in the twelfth year of Jiading, and became magistrate of Jianyang County in the seventeenth year.

He was punished for writing the poem “Falling Plum Blossoms” and remained out of office for a prolonged period; the duration is given variously as “more than twenty years” and “ten years.” In the first year of Duanping (1234), he was recalled as an adviser to the military command; in the following year he became an editor in the Bureau of Military Affairs and acting Assistant Palace Aide, but was soon dismissed. He then served as head of the Yuju guan (玉局觀), governor of Zhangzhou, and governor of Yuanzhou, and was again impeached and dismissed. His outspoken integrity made him a target, and he opposed the Southern Song court’s policy of seeking security through compromise.

When Li Zongmian held power, Liu Kezhuang was promoted to posts in Jiangxi and Guangdong and then to transport commissioner of Guangdong. He was impeached in the first year of Chunyou (1241), removed from the administration of Chongxi guan, and recalled in the fourth year as intendant of Jiangdong. In the sixth year of Chunyou (1246), he was summoned as Grand Court Vice Minister; because his memorials addressed current affairs incisively, Emperor Lizong praised him and granted him the status of a Presented Scholar. He then became Vice Director of the Palace Library, concurrently serving as an editor of the National History, a reviewer of the Veritable Records, a reader at Chongzheng Hall, and a Zhongshu Sheren.

While serving as Zhongshu Sheren, he tried to block the order appointing the powerful minister Shi Songzhi to a retirement post. Although the order was carried out, Liu was impeached by the censors and sent out as a Fujian surveillance commissioner under the title of Mi ge xiuzhuan. In the tenth year of Chunyou he became Palace Library Supervisor; the following year he returned to the capital as Concurrent Junior Libationer of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Director of the Hanlin Academy, reader at Chongzheng Hall, and co-editor of the historiography office. He was made Qiju Sheren in the tenth month, then was again impeached and removed from the administration of Mingdao guan.

In the first year of Jingding, he resumed posts as Palace Library Supervisor and Qiju Lang, acting Zhongshu Sheren, and Vice Minister of War concurrently serving as Zhongshu Sheren and Director of the Hanlin Academy. In the third year he became acting Minister of Works and a reader, and in the eighth month was appointed a Baozhang Pavilion Academician and governor of Jianning. He retired in the autumn of the fifth year because of an eye ailment, holding the title of Huanzhang Pavilion Academician; in the fourth year of Xianchun (1268), he was additionally appointed Longtu Pavilion Academician. He died in the first month of the fifth year of Xianchun (1269), aged eighty-three, and was posthumously named Wending.

Literary work and thought

Liu Kezhuang excelled in poetry, prose, and ci. His poetry followed the late Tang style, making him an important representative of Jianghu poetry; Ye Shi praised it with the words, “It should raise the banners and drums of a great general.” His ci was expansive and forceful, deep and weighty, and often responsive to current affairs, with prose-like and argumentative tendencies. His literary fame was so great that it overshadowed his administrative achievements.

Works

He compiled a literary collection during his lifetime; Lin Xiyi wrote its preface, and later Hou, Xu, and Xin collections followed. His youngest son, Liu Shanfu, subsequently assembled them as the 200-juan Houcun xiansheng daquanji (Complete Collection of Mr. Houcun). He also had the ci collection Houcun biediao.