Liu Yin

Life

On the eve of his birth, his father dreamed that a divine man carried a child to the family home on a horse and said, “Care for him well”; he was therefore named Yin and styled Mengji, and later took the name Liu Yin. He was exceptionally gifted, could write a thousand words a day, and composed poetry at the age of six.

At home he taught students according to their abilities, and all achieved success; as he matured, he studied the learning of Zhou, Cheng, Zhu and Lü in depth, withdrew from society, and would not accommodate himself to convention. When officials and envoys passed by, he avoided meeting them; some took this for arrogance, but he paid no heed. He cherished Zhuge Liang’s saying “Quietness cultivates the self,” named his residence Jingxiu, and, after traveling between Langshan and Lei Creek, styled himself the True Recluse of Lei Creek and also Qiao’an. He was a friend of Hou Kezhong and a teacher of An Xi, who also composed a sacrificial text for him.

In the nineteenth year of the Zhiyuan era (1282), he was recommended to the court for his learning and conduct and appointed Chengdelang (承德郎) and Right Zanshan Dafu (右贊善大夫); soon afterward he resigned because of his mother’s illness and returned home. In the twenty-eighth year of the Zhiyuan era, he was summoned as a Jixian Academician (集賢學士), but firmly declined; he died two years later at the age of forty-five.

Yao Shu, Xu Heng, Yang Guo and Shang Ting occupied positions in the metropolitan offices, in an era reputed for good government; after these men successively retired, many eminent officials at court hoped that Liu Yin would serve, and the chancellor 不忽木 pressed his recommendation, but the effort never resulted in his appointment. When Xu Heng was summoned, he passed by Jingxiu, and Liu Yin asked whether Xu had risen after a single summons too quickly; Xu replied that without doing so the Way could not be put into practice. When Liu Yin declined the Jixian summons, he explained that without doing so the Way would not be honored. Shizu heard this and exclaimed that men who could not be summoned had existed in antiquity, and that Liu Yin was surely of their kind.

During the 延祐 era, he was posthumously granted the title of Hanlin Academician, the title Duke of Rongcheng Commandery, and the posthumous name Wenjing.

Thought and poetry

Liu Yin made Cheng-Zhu learning his foundation while also drawing on the thought of Lu Jiuyuan; earlier he had studied the learning of Zhou, Cheng, Zhu and Lü in depth. In teaching, he worked at home, adapting instruction to each pupil’s abilities, and his students achieved success.

In his account of poetry, he saw poetry flourishing from the Wei and Jin onward, with Cao, Liu, Tao and Xie as its greatest representatives; changing from the Sui and Tang onward, with Li, Du and Han attaining the proper norm; and weakening from the Zhou and Song onward before becoming strong again, with Ou, Su and Huang as its greatest representatives. His poetic talent was exceptional, and his verse had a bold, unrestrained energy.

Works

His works include Jingxiu wenji (《靜修文集》). He also wrote 《櫝蓍記》 in one juan. 《四書集義精要》 appears in one form as a twenty-eight-juan work, while another gives the title 《四書精要》 and thirty juan.

He selected a five-juan poetry collection, Dinghai ji (《丁亥集》), with his own hand; he once recited it to himself and burned other writings. The transmitted collection contains more than ten juan, along with a continuation, remaining poems and supplementary pieces, all of which were printed.

Legacy

Later, a proposal was made to enshrine him in the Confucian temple.