Yulizi

This book is one of the Liu Ji Culture Research Series. It distills Liu Ji's thought and wisdom and embodies the essence of Liu Ji culture. Yu means literary grace; Li, one of the eight trigrams, stands for fire; Yuli therefore means civilization, the sense being that if later generations and the world employ these words, they may attain the rule of civilization. In intellectual content it takes Dao as its foundation while combining with the practical, concrete application of Confucianism. Its conception and prose are shifting and extraordinary, capturing much of Zhuangzi's essence. In the bingchen year of the Jiajing reign it was printed together with Song Lian's Longmenzi Ningdao Ji in Kaifeng. Liu Ji held that all things have a Dao, and the Dao cannot be contravened; second, that things have two poles and are united in opposition; third, that principle is one and its manifestations are many, and one should probe their essence; fourth, that wisdom prevails over force, and one should know what is not yet known; fifth, that one should take things and principles as the basis and think through images. His thinking grasps the essence of Daoist thought. "Yuli zi" is a pseudonym of Liu Bowen. When Liu Ji wrote Yuli zi he was between forty-seven and fifty, having experienced four rises and four falls in the Yuan dynasty officialdom and at the low point of his life, so that for half his life he was frustrated and unable to realize his ambitions; later, stripped of military power, he abandoned office and retired to the mountains of his native Qingtian, where he resolved to write Yuli zi. Soon after the book was completed he left the mountains and home to become a trusted adviser to Zhu Yuanzhang, helping him establish the unified Ming dynasty. This book not only concentrates the views on governing the state and pacifying the people of Liu Bowen as a statesman, but also reflects his views on talent, his philosophical thought, economic thought, literary achievements, moral character, and broad learning. In the course of writing Yuli zi, Liu Bowen's entire intellectual system, especially his views and proposals on social and political matters, became more mature and more systematic.