Acknowledgements

pp.：  9 – 10

Introduction

pp.：  11 – 22

1. Born and Bred to be a Ruler

pp.：  23 – 60

What is in a Name?

pp.：  23 – 22

Establishment of the Eastern Palace

pp.：  23 – 27

Writing Profundity and Subtlety: Speaking of the Big and the Small

pp.：  28 – 29

Speeches on the Big and Small at the Chu Court

pp.：  30 – 35

A Third Century Interest in Playfulness: Fu Xian’s “Xiaoyan Fu”

pp.：  36 – 36

Dayan/Xiaoyan Poems By Xiao Tong and Others

pp.：  37 – 40

The Big and The Small: Lesson of Rulership

pp.：  41 – 44

Companions of Crown Prince

pp.：  45 – 47

Virtuous Words and Pure Dust: Friendship with the Crown Prince

pp.：  48 – 53

Portraying Crown Prince

pp.：  54 – 60

2. Gentlemanly Style: Xiao Tong’s Literary Inclination

pp.：  61 – 114

The Great Anthology

pp.：  61 – 61

Xiao Tong as the Compiler and his Preface to Wen Xuan

pp.：  62 – 66

An Age of Literary Proliferation

pp.：  67 – 70

Trimming Weeds and Brambles

pp.：  71 – 73

Setting Norms: The Case of Pei Ziye

pp.：  74 – 79

The Ambiguity and Potentiality of Qing

pp.：  80 – 86

Gentelmanly Writing

pp.：  87 – 87

Poetry as Experimentation

pp.：  88 – 93

A Taste of the “Frivolous”

pp.：  94 – 96

Brotherly Love Through Courtly Writing

pp.：  97 – 114

3. Writing for the Crown Prince: Worthy with Words

pp.：  115 – 190

Liu Family of Pengcheng

pp.：  115 – 116

Demanding Promotion: Liu Xiaochuo’s Exchange Poems with Ren Fang

pp.：  117 – 126

Attending to the Emperor with Poems

pp.：  127 – 130

Worthy with Words

pp.：  131 – 133

Literary Camaraderie and Competition: A Historical Review

pp.：  134 – 141

Remembering the North, A Repository of the Past

pp.：  142 – 144

Finding Comfort in a Versified Present

pp.：  145 – 150

Poems on the Third Day Festival: Celebrating the Curving Waters in a Water Land

pp.：  151 – 155

Same River, Different View

pp.：  156 – 171

The Tone of “Gentleness and Ease”

pp.：  172 – 175

A Long Exchange of Commiseration

pp.：  176 – 190

4. Xiao Tong’s Encounters with Buddhism

pp.：  191 – 238

Hosting Lectures on Buddhism in the Hanging Garden

pp.：  194 – 202

Notes between Emperor Wu and Xiao Tong on Buddhist Lectures

pp.：  203 – 205

Exchanges between Monk Fayun and Xiao Tong

pp.：  206 – 208

Commemorating with Verse

pp.：  209 – 211

Excursions To Buddhist Sites

pp.：  212 – 217

Matching Poems by Xiao Tong’s Literary Companion

pp.：  218 – 225

Between Filial Piety and Religious Identity

pp.：  226 – 233

Distancing from Buddhist Activities

pp.：  234 – 238

5. Pondering on Reclusion and Rulership

pp.：  239 – 288

Reclusion as a Key Topic in the Six Dyansties

pp.：  240 – 241

Reclusion As A Powerful Rhetoric: The Case Of Zhang Chon

pp.：  242 – 257

A Genuine Recluse and His Rejection of the Crown Prince

pp.：  258 – 270

Writing Tao Qian to Explain Himself: Xiao Tong’s Last Piece

pp.：  271 – 288

Conclusion

pp.：  289 – 292

Bibliography

pp.：  293 – 306

Index

pp.：  307 – 320