Liu Zongyuan's civil service career was initially successful; however, in 805, he fell out of favour with the imperial government because of his association with a failed reformist movement.

[2] His exile allowed his literary career to flourish: he produced poems, fables, reflective travelogues and essays synthesizing elements of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.

[1] Liu's best-known travel pieces are the Eight Records of Excursions in Yongzhou (永州八記).

In a lone boat, an old man, in a rain hat and a straw raincoat, Fishing alone, in the cold river snow.

1300), Yu Ji's (虞 集, 1272–1348) younger brother, wrote texts titled Fei Fei Guoyu (simplified Chinese: 非非国语; traditional Chinese: 非非國語; Argument against the Argument against the Harangues of the Various States) in opposition to Liu Zongyuan's essay.