Already Feminine: The Life and Writings of Liu Lingxian (fl. 524)

Abstract The sixth-century writer Liu Lingxian has been the subject of two drastically different appraisals: she is viewed either as a virtuous wife or negatively as a licentious poetess. While admirers of Liu’s moral character often choose to focus on her writings associated with her marriage to Xu Fei (d. 524), especially the elegiac essay composed by Liu after her husband’s death, her critics censure her for writing what they deem licentious poetry. Their autobiographical interpretations of Liu Lingxian’s poetry underscore how gender functions as a category of literary criticism. Because Liu Lingxian’s immoral image emerged in the late imperial period (1368-1911), this study explores the ways in which scholars of this era interpreted and manipulated Liu’s writings to frame her for a debauched lifestyle. Moreover, as the collection Yutai xinyong (New songs from a jade terrace) comprehensively preserves the extant poetic oeuvre of Liu Lingxian, this study also examines the diverging representations of Liu Lingxian’s poetry in the various editions of the Yutai xinyong.