Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty held a temporary imperial examination at 826 in order to pick out talented officials with whom he wanted to overcome a lot of serious confusion in state affairs. At this examination, Liu Fen handed in a scathing Answer,...
Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty held a temporary imperial examination at 826 in order to pick out talented officials with whom he wanted to overcome a lot of serious confusion in state affairs. At this examination, Liu Fen handed in a scathing Answer, which created quite a stir in the Royal Court and society. “A Biography of Liu Fen” in New History of Tang Dynasty contains Liu Fen’s Answer for the Emperor’s Question and introduces the details surrounding Liu Fen’s failure in this examination. The Biography is composed of four sections: 1) Liu Fen’s career and its time period, 2) Emperor’s Question at the Examination in 826, 3) Liu Fen’s Answer for the Qustion, 4) the reverberation caused by Liu Fen’s failure. The aim of this paper is to translate and annotate “A Biography of Liu Fen” in New History of Tang Dynasty in order to inquire the cultural meaning of Liu Fen’s failure, for it is very convoluted to understand and appreciate Liu Fen’s Answer because of a lot of precedential expression.