Liu Xie

Liu Xie (ca. 465–522), courtesy name Yanhe, was a Chinese monk, politician, and writer, notable for authoring *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons* (文心雕龍), considered China's greatest work of literary aesthetics. Born in what is now Zhenjiang, his ancestry traced back to Shandong. Orphaned in his youth, he chose not to marry, dedicating himself to Buddhist studies under Sengyou. He assisted in editing sutras at Dinglin Monastery, where he also wrote *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons*. Later, he served as a private secretary to Xiao Hong, brother of Emperor Wu of Liang, and held logistics and county magistrate positions before returning to the monastery. He also wrote *The Great Enlightenment* (*Hong Ming Ji*) and *On the World* (*Shijie Ji*), both now lost, and an essay titled "Treatise on Refuting Falsehood" (*Mie Huo Lun*). Liu Xie also conducted a psychology experiment demonstrating that attempting two complex tasks simultaneously leads to neither being performed correctly.