Posted 2016/9/19
Liu Yuxi (772 - 842), born in Luoyang (part of today's Henan Province), was a Tang-Dynasty writer and philosopher.
Liu Yuxi was a gifted person with eagerness to learn. As a child, he was exceptionally talented, showing great promise. In his teens, he traveled to Chang'an to pursue studies and put forward propositions to the imperial court. At the age of 21, he earned his jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial civil service examination) title along with Liu Zongyuan, another renowned writer at that time. In the same year, he passed the "Broad Learning and Extensive Scholarship" exam. In his political career, Liu Yuxi opposed eunuchs' seize of power and separatist regimes. As a result, he was demoted to a local official of Langzhou before being transferred to the post of a prefectural governor in Lianzhou after the failure of Yongzhen Reform. Later, at the strong recommendation of Pei Du, Liu Yuxi assumed the post of Tutor of the Crown Prince, with the concurrent post of the Minister of Rites. He was historically known as Tutor Liu.
Over 800 Liu's poems have survived to this day. His poems covered a wide range of subjects, mainly reflecting people's lives and folk customs. Some of the poems lashed out at the influential officials who ordered the suppression of Yongzhen Reform through a fable or tale. His poems addressed a broad range of social phenomena. In addition, his 40-plus folk-song style ci-poems have been handed down.
