Yulizi 郁離子

Yulizi 郁離子 is a philosophical treatise written during the early Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Liu Ji 劉基 (1311-1375), courtesy name Bowen 伯溫, from Qingtian 青田, Zhejiang. The 2-juan-long book was already finished under the rule of the Yuan dynasty 元 (1279-1368). The title is derived from the trigram li ☲ 離 ("Fire"), which is identified with the fire, one of the Five Agents (according to the preface by Xu Yikui 徐一夔). Liu wished that his writing would "enlighten" (yu 郁) the world and its rulers, and the founder of the Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋 (Emperor Taizu 明太祖, r. 1368-1398), in particular. He also used this image as his own style: Yulizi, the "Master of the bright trigram Li", or "Master of a Clear Writing".

Liu Ji served the Yuan dynasty as vice magistrate of Gao'an 高安, Jiangxi, and vice educational commissioner (ruxue fu tiju 儒學副提舉) of Jiang-Zhe 江浙, but soon retired. Afterwards, he entered officialdom again and was appointed office manager (dushi 都事) in the Branch Secretariat (xingsheng 行省 of Jiang-Zhe) but was dismissed because of alleged cooperation with the rebel Fang Guozhen 方國珍 (1319-1374). Emperor Taizu was impressed by his helpful book Yulizi and made him Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief (yushi zhongcheng 御史中丞) and concurrently Director of the Astrological Commission (taishi ling 太史令) and gave him the title of Earl of Chengyi 誠意伯. In 1371, he finally retired, but was slandered at the court and is said to have died out of sorrow. Some sources say he was poisoned on the orders of Counsellor-in-chief Hu Weiyong 胡惟庸 (d. 1380). Liu's posthumous title was Earl Wencheng 文成伯. His collected writings are called Chengyibo Liu Wenchenggong ji 誠意伯劉文成公集. Apart from the Yulizi, Liu Ji also wrote the books Qimen dunjia 奇門遁甲 (a book on divination), Duoneng bishi 多能鄙事, Maiganzhe yan 賣柑者言, Baizhan qilüe 百戰奇略 (a book on strategy and tactics), and many other books.

The Yuilizi consists of 182 short chapters, most of which consist of a proverb and an allegory. It was initially arranged in 10 juan and 18 chapters with 159 articles. The text delivers not only examples of an excellent rule or economic and diplomatic policy but also shows Liu Ji's philosophical standpoints.

Like most Neo-Confucian thinkers, Liu thought that the universe was based on "primordial breath" (yuanqi 元氣), i.e. a kind of matter. Heaven consisted of a turbid and undifferentiated mixture of "breath", and the earth, located in-midst Heaven, was characterised by a steady flow of qi. Heaven and Earth produced the ten thousand objects and creatures, among which man would follow the "Way" (dao 道) of Heaven and Earth. Man had thus a superior position and could transform objects if he strictly followed the rules of Heaven and the primordial qi.

The human body and the character of a person were given to him by Heaven and could thus not change in the course of a life. Nonetheless, all human character was bound to the dao or the universal order (li 理), which was intrinsically good. All men had thus the potential to be good persons. Just like the dao could not be separated from matter (or qi), the human character could not be separated from emotions and desires (qing yu 情欲), which could be good or evil. Liu maintained that even if there was a difference between knowing and action, man would not be able to change objective circumstances. Nonetheless, man was not wholly powerless in this respect.

Liu Ji criticised the widespread belief in ghosts, spectres, Daoist immortals and the Buddhist theory of retribution in a later existence.

In politics, Liu Ji used the analogy of a physician who inspected the veins to find out problems and only so would be able to apply a type of medicine. The ruler had to do everything to support the ordinary people and to make himself free from the pursuit of his own profit. Yet the people were like sand. Lacquer or water would not help to bind it together, and not even a tight fist could keep it for a long time: once opened, the hand would lose all grains of sand. For an effectual government, a ruler had to prevent corruption and clarify reward and punishment, i.e., to have a law code compiled. Liu's examples and analogies came from experience, and rarely drew from images in the Confucian Classics.

The earliest print of the Yulizi was published by Master Zhang 章氏 from Longquan 龍泉. Another one was published in 1470 in Liu's collected writings with the title Chengyibo Liu xiansheng wenji 誠意伯劉先生文集 (the Chenghua edition 成化本). During the Ming period, four more editions were published, three of them in Liu's collected works (Chengyibo wenji 誠意伯文集) and one stand-alone edition (the Jiajing edition 嘉靖本). The most crucial Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) edition is found in the series Sibu congkan 四部叢刊, Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原 and Baizi quanshu 百子全書 (very abridged). In 1981, the Shanghai Guji Press published a modern edition commented by Wei Jianyou 魏建猷 and Xiao Shanbang 蕭善邦 (series Ming-Qing biji congshu 明清筆記叢書). In 1983, the Huacheng Press 花城出版社 published Zhang Xuezhong's 張學忠 commented version. The same year saw the publication of Bao Yanyi's 鮑延毅 edition in the Beijing Press.