Liu Ji

Life

Liu Hao was his great-grandfather and his father was 劉爚; his elder son was 劉璉 (1348–1379), while his second son, 劉璟, died in 1402. He also lived for a time in Shaoxing Prefecture.

He passed the jinshi examination in the first year of the Yuan-dynasty Yuántǒng era (1333), and was appointed county magistrate of Gao'an and deputy superintendent of Confucian learning in Jiangzhe. When Fang Guozhen first rose in revolt, Liu served as an administrative director in the Jiangzhe provincial government and advocated vigorous suppression; when his superiors would not follow his policy, he left office, withdrew into seclusion, organized local forces, and resisted Fang's regime.

In the twentieth year of Zhizheng (1360), Zhu Yuanzhang invited him to Yingtian, where he presented eighteen proposals on current affairs. He urged Zhu not to recognize Han Lin'er and proposed a sequence of campaigns: first destroy Chen Youliang, then take Zhang Shicheng, and finally pacify the Central Plain. In the Wu era he became Grand Astrologer (Taishiling); early in the Hongwu reign he became Chief Censor (Yushi Zhongcheng) while also holding the former office, and in Hongwu 3 (1370) he was made an Academician of the Hongwen Academy and enfeoffed as Earl of Chengyi.

He helped Li Shanchang and Song Lian establish the institutional code of the Ming, and in Hongwu 4 (1371) retired as a Hongwen Academy academician. Later he was falsely accused by Hu Weiyong and died in grief and anger; another account says that Hu poisoned him. In the Zhengde period he was posthumously given the name Wencheng. His friends included Song Lian, Ye Chen, Zhang Yi, Hu Shen, and Shen Menglin.

Thought and literature

Liu Ji mastered the classics and history, excelled in astronomy and correlative cosmology, was versed in military strategy, and pursued astronomy and numerology; his interests also extended to calligraphy, painting, historiography, classical learning, and philosophy. His poetry was expansive and charged with unusual energy; his prose was broad, profound, and disciplined, and with Song Lian he helped establish a literary style for a new age, while his ci lyrics were celebrated for their polished brilliance.

Poetry criticism has also treated Liu Ji as the founder of the early-Ming Yue poetic current, placing him alongside Gao Jidi, Lin Ziyu, Sun Fen, and Liu Song as five pioneering poets whose talent could dominate their respective regions.

Works

His works include 《郁離子》, 《覆瓿集》, 《犁眉公集》, 《誠意伯文集》, and 《寫情集》; 《誠意伯文集》 also contains his ci lyrics. 《覆瓿集》 consists of twenty-four juan, 《寫情集》 of four, and 《犁眉公集》 of five. Other titles attributed to him include 《劉伯溫先生重纂諸葛忠武侯兵法心要內集二卷外集三卷》, 《劉伯溫先生百戰奇略十卷》, 《靈棋本章正經二卷》, 《明誠意伯溫靈棋經解一卷》, 《靈城精義二卷》, 《披肝露膽經一卷》, 《滴天髓二卷》, 《佐玄直指圖解九卷》, and 《新鋟煙波釣徒奇門定局一卷》.