Liu Ling (), born 221 and died 300 CE, was a Chinese poet and scholar. Little information survives about his family background, though he is described in historical sources as short and unattractive, with a dissipated appearance.

Name

Liu Ling's name is commonly misprinted as "劉靈".

Background

Liu Ling was born in the state of Pei of the

Western Jin dynasty Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

(266–316 CE), which is now the

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province.

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

One of the

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (also known as the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, zh, t=, s=竹林七贤, poj=Tiok-lîm Chhit Hiân, p=Zhúlín Qī Xián, first=t) were a group of Chinese scholars, writers, and musicians of the third ce ...

, Liu Ling was a

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

who retreated to the countryside in order to pursue a spontaneous and natural existence that would have been impossible under the tight constraints of the Imperial court.

Personality and life

Popularly regarded as an eccentric, he was notorious for his love of alcohol. The earliest depictions of him, on tombs in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, show him drinking wine from a gourd, and his most famous work is a poem titled "In Praise of the Virtue of Wine". An oft-quoted

folk tale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

about Liu Ling claims that he was followed at all times by a servant bearing a bottle of wine and a shovel, who was equally prepared to offer him wine at a moment's notice or bury him if he fell over dead. Another cites his practice of commonly walking around his home in the

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...

, explaining to surprised visitors that he considered the entire universe his home and his rooms his clothing, and then inquiring as to why they had just entered his pants. "I see the earth and skies as my home, and this room as my pants. What are you, gentlemen, doing in my pants?" Liu Ling and his beliefs about drinking are mentioned in CHAPTER XXXVI of

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an England, English and Scotland, Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the beer made from it. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that corres ...

''.

Literature

* Ulrich Holbein: ''Unheilige Narren''. 22 Lebensbilder. Marix Verlag,

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

2012, . S.42-43 (German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Ling Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove Cao Wei poets Jin dynasty (266–420) poets People from Suzhou, Anhui Poets from Anhui 221 births 300 deaths