"Yu Li" is a collection of allegorical prose written by Liu Bowen, a famous politician and writer in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. It can be regarded as his masterpiece.
Liu Bowen, named Ji and courtesy name Bowen, was born in Qingtian, Zhejiang Province. He was intelligent and knowledgeable since he was a child, and he had in-depth research on astronomy, geography, and art of war. He has great ambitions and is eager to display his political ambitions in order to realize his ideals of governing the country. However, during his tenure as an official in the Yuan Dynasty, he was repeatedly marginalized and suppressed, and his official career was bumpy. In the twelfth year of Zhizheng (1352), Liu Ji disagreed with the imperial court regarding Fang Guozhen, and was dissatisfied with the corruption and darkness of the officialdom. He abandoned his official position angrily and returned to his hometown in the Qingtian Mountains.
During his period of seclusion, Liu Bowen worked hard to write books and created "Yu Ion". The word "Yu Li" has a profound meaning. "Yu" means literary talent, and "Li" is one of the eight trigrams, which represents fire and symbolizes civilization. Liu Bowen hoped that if future generations in the world adopt what is said in the book, they will be able to achieve civilized governance.
"Yu Ion" has a total of eighteen chapters and one hundred and ninety-five articles. It is rich in content and covers everything about heaven and earth. With sharp writing, ingenious conception, and many vivid fables, it satirizes the social reality of the late Yuan Dynasty, and deeply criticizes the political corruption, social injustice, moral decay and other phenomena at that time. It also expresses Liu Bowen's thoughts and ideas on the governance of the country and the security of the country.
Many fables in the book, such as "Sniper Gong Fu Zhi", use the story of the snipers to resist the sniper's exploitation, revealing the people's resistance to oppression and the ruler's helplessness.
