Name

Liu Ling's name is commonly misprinted as "劉靈".

Background

Liu Ling was born in the state of Pei of the Western Jin dynasty (266–316 CE), which is now the Suzhou of Anhui province.

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

One of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Liu Ling was a Taoist who retreated to the countryside in order to pursue a spontaneous and natural existence that would have been impossible under the tight constraints of the Imperial court.

Personality and life

Popularly regarded as an eccentric, he was notorious for his love of alcohol. The earliest depictions of him, on tombs in Nanjing, show him drinking wine from a gourd, and his most famous work is a poem titled "In Praise of the Virtue of Wine".

An oft-quoted folk tale about Liu Ling claims that he was followed at all times by a servant bearing a bottle of wine and a shovel, who was equally prepared to offer him wine at a moment's notice or bury him if he fell over dead. Another cites his practice of commonly walking around his home in the nude, explaining to surprised visitors that he considered the entire universe his home and his rooms his clothing, and then inquiring as to why they had just entered his pants. "I see the earth and skies as my home, and this room as my pants. What are you, gentlemen, doing in my pants?"

Liu Ling and his beliefs about drinking are discussed in Jack London's autobiographical novel John Barleycorn.

Literature

• Ulrich Holbein: Unheilige Narren. 22 Lebensbilder. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012, . S.42-43 (German)

傳記與筆記

《晉書·列傳十九·劉伶》載其：身長六尺，容貌甚陋。放情肆志，常以細宇宙齊萬物為心。澹默少言，不妄交遊，與阮籍、嵇康相遇，欣然神解，攜手入林。初不以家產有無介意。常乘鹿車，攜一壺酒，使人荷鍤而隨之，謂曰：「死便埋我。」其遺形骸如此。嘗渴甚，求酒于其妻。妻捐酒毀器，涕泣諫曰：「君酒太過，非攝生之道，必宜斷之。」伶曰：「善！吾不能自禁，惟當祝鬼神自誓耳。便可具酒肉。」妻從之。伶跪祝曰：

仍引酒御肉，隗然複醉。嘗醉與俗人相忤，其人攘袂奮拳而往。伶徐曰：「雞肋不足以安尊拳。」其人笑而止。

《世說新語》記載，劉伶恆縱酒放達。或脫衣裸形在屋中，人見譏之。伶曰∶

作品《酒德頌》

參考來源

• 《晉書·列傳十九·劉伶》

• 《世說新語》

• 《古今圖書集成》·方輿彙編坤輿典·塚墓部·彙考·保定府

外部鏈接