Abstract
On the basis of a global reading of Liu Xie's Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragon, this paper proposes a link between the section "Casting and Paring" and the other sections in the book, and maintains that only through such a link can the structural features, cultural efficiency and Confucian responsibilities in Liu Xie's expressive rhetoric. The parallelism in argumentative mode between the section "Affections and Coloration" and the section "casting and paring" informs a two-sided rhetoric with affection as the subjective quality and casting as the textual quality. "Casting and paring" (argumentation and writing) is realized as a primary mode in the sections of "The Source in the Way," "Learning the Sages" and "Revering the Classics." Therefore, the intention of writing Literary Mind shows in its argumentation. First, rhetoric is an unnatural generating mode, and it shows a nature of duality of good and evil because its internalization separates itself from nature. Secondly, Liu Xie's writing mode shows that the unique function of expressive rhetoric suggested by his writing practice of parallel prose lies in both the breakthroughs in rhetoric by way of alluding to classical texts and in the reader's existential experience by way of calling the readers to participate in the transcendental Confucian ideals to change their lives.
First Page
110
Last Page
120
Recommended Citation
Li, Baojing. 2015. "The Duality of Expressive Rhetoric: The Intention of Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragon as Investigated from "Casting and Paring"." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 35, (6): pp.110-120. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol35/iss6/16
