Shuoyuan liu xiang biography
Shuoyuan liu xiang biography
Liu xiang interview.
Oct 23, 2010 © Ulrich Theobald
Shuoyuan 說苑 "Garden of persuasions" is a collection of short stories of persons from antiquity to the Former Han period 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE). It was compiled by the imperial librarian Liu Xiang 劉向 (79-8 or 77-6 BCE).
The original title of the book was Xinyuan 新苑 "New garden", and it contained 748 stories arranged in 20 chapters.
The stories centre on Confucian scholars and other persons belonging to philosophical schools or political advisors.
They are arranged according to the theme of discussion, from the relationship between ruler and minister, estimating worthies and competent counsellors, to plans for strengthening the state and government or how to conquer inimical territory.
Shuoyuan liu xiang biography wikipedia
The largest part of the stories are dialogues between an advisor and a ruler. Many of them are also preserved in other books, like the Guoyu 國語 and Zhanguoce 戰國策, but there are also some stories not to be found there.
16 stories date from the Han period, all othe