Beacon Fire and Shooting Star: The Literati Culture of the Liang (502-557).

• Author: Richter, Antje
• Position: Book review

Beacon Fire and Shooting Star: The Literati Culture of the Liang (502-557). By XIAOFEI TIAN. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, 63. Cambridge, Massachusetts: HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2007. Pp. xvi + 473. $49.50.

Tian Xiaofei's book is the first in a Western language to focus on the literary culture of one discrete era of the Six Dynasties. This alone makes it a most welcome and valuable publication, but it is far from being its only virtue. Tian's work is accessible enough to be of great interest to anyone interested in Chinese literature in general. At the same time, it has much to offer for the specialist reader concerned with the literary heritage and reputation of the Liang dynasty in particular--a period that really is, as the author claims, "one of the most underestimated and misunderstood" periods in Chinese history (p. 1). The rehabilitation of the literary disrepute of the Liang is a stance that emphatically informs Tian's whole endeavor and may well be called her central argument. Her reasoning in that respect challenges mainly the traditional Chinese evaluation of the Liang as decadent and feeble. This view, which had taken hold by the time of the Tang dynasty, remains dominant even today. One would thus hope for a Chinese translation of Beacon Fire and Shooting Star, as this might contribute significantly to an increased recognition of the Six Dynasties and the Liang in China itself.

However, beyond its pioneering foray into the literary culture of a previously undervalued and little explored period, this book does a great deal more. It can only be described as literary criticism at its best, presenting an intriguing and highly individual approach to a literary and cultural scene that inspires interest well beyond the Liang dynasty itself. In the acknowledgments, Tian admits that writing the book was an "extraordinary pleasure" (p. vii), suggesting a frame of mind that proves quite infectious and certainly is one reason that reading this volume is so pleasurable an experience. The reader's delight is fueled by the fresh and highly personal tone throughout the book, by the wealth of historical information about personages and situations, which are presented in brisk narratives, and by interpretations of poetry that are always perceptive and in some cases profoundly moving.

According to her introduction, Tian does not set out to write a "conventional literary history," but rather a "social and cultural history of the...