"liezi" Study Three Questions

"Liezi" is an important classic Taoist works, which was compiled by Liu Xiang in the later Western Han Dynasty, with eight volumes recorded in "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi".This thesis consists of three parts: the first part a general survey and comments of the study of Liezi in the 20^th century; the second part, discussing some textual authenticity issues of the book; the third part, commentary on some typical criticism on Liezi's literature style in the history.In the 20^th century, authenticity is the most important part in "Liezi" study's history. The author not only describes the development of the distinguishing stage predecessors but also sums up the two most important approaches in research perspective: language and recomposition. The author found that the two approaches are not perfect, which were limited by many conditions, and the researchers should be cautious in using them. The author also divides the study of Liezi in the 20^th century into three stages, which have two features: one is consentrated on the connotation and characters of the book "Liezi" and the other is on the statue of the book in the history of philosophy. In the final section of this part, the author provides an overview of literature and language-related research, and points out the inadequate in these research. At the end, the author also gives an overview of the overseas "Liezi" Research.In the second chapter, the author discusses three important issues related to the textual issue of Liezi. First, what is the situation of "Liezi Xinshu", which has seldom be studied by previous scholars. Based on the comparasion between the information provided by Liu xiang in his Liezi's Preface and the current text of "Liezi", the author drafts out a basic framework of the book "Liezi Xinshu". Second, Zhang zhan reedited rather than forged the book of "Liezi". Since Liezi was spreading and circulating in the Western Jin Dynasty Zhang zhan was not, and could not be a falsifier. He is only collected different versions of the book, reedited it and added his own commentaries. The author thus try to figure out what is the rules and regulations Zhang zhan had used when reediting it. Third, regarding the "Liezi" versions in Tang and Song Dynasty, and find that some of the divergent text in this book compiled even earlier than any other versions, and had referenced at lest three different versions.The third part mainly discussed four typical critiques of Liezi's literary style in the history. The author not only discussed the connotation and the formation of such understandings, but also describes their relations and gives appropriate evaluation.