Liu Xun (1240–1319) was a poet and writer of the late Song and early Yuan who served as a professor of Confucian learning. His courtesy name was Qiqian, also given as 超潛; his sobriquet was 水村, with 水雲村 as an alternative, and 子長 also appears among his names. He was from Nanfeng, now in Jiangxi; his native place is also given as Nanfengzhou.
Life
Described as outstanding and unconventional, Liu Xun studied the Classics and history, surveyed the writings of many authors, and possessed a mind in which literary ideas flowed like a spring. In the late Song, he and his fellow townsman Chen You made their names through poetry and prose.
At the fall of the Song he was thirty-seven, and after entering the Yuan he entered official service through recommendation. One account places his appointment more than a decade after the Song's fall as acting school director of Xu Commandery; another gives eighteen years and Zhao Commandery, while a third says that he became school director of Jianchang Route at fifty-five.
At seventy he received an imperial appointment as professor of Confucian learning on Yanping Route. After his term ended, his students kept him teaching for three years before he returned home; his titles also included school director, professor, professor of Confucian learning, and Tongyi dafu.
He died in the sixth year of the Yanyou era under Emperor Renzong (1319), aged eighty. After his death, Wu Cheng wrote his epitaph and the tomb inscription *故延平路儒學教授南豐劉君墓表*.
Family
His father was Liu Yan, and his mother was Lady Jie, identified as Liu Yan's wife. His wife was Fu (1241–1303), and they had three sons: Liu Longrui, Liu Linrui, and Liu Luanrui.
Works and literary activity
His works included *經說講義*, *水雲村稿*, *泯稿*, *哀鑑*, *英華錄*, and *隱居通議* (also written *隱居通義*); the corpus was said to comprise 125 juan, while *隱居通議* is also listed as thirty-one juan. Another account lists only *隱居通議* and *水雲村稿*, and fourteen poems are recorded.
His writing included epitaphs, tomb tables, biographies, sacrificial texts, temple stele records, school and academy records, prefaces, and postscripts, as well as poems, records, and names for buildings.
He wrote prefaces for Zhao Wen's *青山文集*, Yi Zhongxin's *雪崖吟稿*, and Zeng Ziliang's poetry and prose. He sent letters to Zhao Wen, Cheng Jufu, Hu Changru, Li Shian, Zang Mengjie, and Zhao Mengrong, among others, and presented poems and prose to Zang Mengjie and Zan Wanshou.
References
- CBDB Liu Xun (35354)
- 搜韵 劉壎 (36809)
- Wikidata Liu Xun (Q45425307)