Writers › Writer / Poet
Li Kang
Cao Wei writer, courtesy name Xiaoyuan, whose essay On Fate and Fortune is in the Wen Xuan and argues that rise and fall are set by destiny.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Courtesy name Xiaoyuan · Li Xiaoyuan
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Li Kang, courtesy name Xiaoyuan, lived in Cao Wei; his dates and career are unknown. The Wen Xuan contains his On Fate and Fortune, which citations also title 'Li Xiaoyuan's On Fate and Fortune'. The essay argues that rise and fall, wealth and poverty are decided by Heaven, citing the fortunes of sages across history, and was influential among Wei-Jin argumentative essays. Dunhuang manuscript P.2645 is headed 'Wen Xuan: Li Xiaoyuan's On Fate and Fortune', showing how widely it circulated.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; lived in Cao Wei (220-265 CE)