Life in the mountains: The encyclopaedic perspective of Liu Xiaobiao's 'Treatise on Withdrawing to the Mountains of Jinhua'

The 'Treatise on Withdrawing to the Mountains of Jinhua,' by Liu Xiaobiao (462-521 CE), presents an exhaustive account of the author's rural mountain estate. In this piece, Liu creates a unique form of landscape writing that draws influence from many different genres of literature and scholarship. In this essay, I discuss how Liu's encyclopaedic, allusive voice makes for an effective survey of concurrent attitudes and perspectives on human engagement with the natural world. I argue Liu uses an amalgamation of these influences to capture a portrait of a region that has already undergone significant anthropogenic transformation. At times, Liu is explicit in his documentation of the religious institutions and agricultural settlements that have transformed the landscape. Elsewhere, however, Liu appears to confuse the natural with the constructed, presenting a landscape in which human presence has become so deeply embedded that it can no longer be recognized as such. 劉孝標 (462-521 CE) 東陽華mountain 棲詳細華mountain 隱時mountain 貌., 劉孝標魏晉北時種學術,學來創種獨mountain 書寫.點於過劉孝標這篇旁徵, 討當時種對於環關係態見.劉孝標這當時響來寫區為風.時, mountain 棲確導mountain 觀產變寺館田園., 時劉孝標淆觀, 寫風經難辨認.

Automated summary

"The Treatise on Withdrawing to the Mountains of Jinhua" by Liu Xiaobiao provides a comprehensive account of the author's rural mountain estate. Through his unique form of landscape writing, Liu draws inspiration from various literary genres and academic influences. He explores different attitudes and perspectives on human engagement with the natural world, capturing a region that has undergone significant anthropogenic transformation.