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Wen Xuan is an anthology of articles compiled by the royal family of liang dynasty. It is hard to avoid the royal imprint on the anthology, especially for those articles related to national politics and government affairs, which were bound to attract the attention of the editors. It can be seen that, apart from the “aesthetic” of literature, Wen Xuan has a more subtle scale of selection. In view of this, this paper is divided into the following aspects to discuss:
The first chapter mainly expatiates on the origin of the study, explains the meaning of the topic, cuts off branches, and through the researches of previous scholars and relevant facts, emphasizes that when Xiao Tong edited Wen Xuan, he did adhere to the royal position above the "aesthetic" of those articles.
The second chapter starts with military affairs, and from the articles on conquering in Wen Xuan, it can be inferred that Xiao Tong had inherent ambition for the northern expedition and unification, but he advocated careful planning.
The third chapter discusses the lessons of the rise and fall of dynasties summarized in the works of Wen Xuan. The meaning of Xiao Tong's selection is the trouble of "female" and "attendant", which warns the rulers to be cautious in preventing small things. At the same time, the historical articles collected in Wen Xuan are often presented meaning by analogy, which contributes to the maturity of parallel prose.
The fourth chapter discusses Xiao Tong's intention of "seeking for talents" through his selection. For the intellectuals who read this anthology, Wen Xuan cited famous officials such as Zhang Liang and Wang Jian as examples of secular values, encouraging the pursuit of utility, but also commended maverick people, and tolerated those who injured, unrecognized, and reclusive.
The fifth chapter mainly shows how Xiao Tong effectively for the literati's writing selection model. The three important aspects of "ghost writing", "praising the saints" and "narrating the virtues" are given to reveal the wonderful meaning of the articles, corresponding to the three kinds of articles of "Ce Xiu-Cai Wen", "Fu Ming" and "Bei Wen".
The sixth chapter reveals the embodiment of the royal position in religion. Wen Xuan is divided into the Thirty-Seven categories, which corresponds to “the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment” of Buddhism. Xiao Tong had chosen the Thirty-Seven kinds of articles, just like the Bodhisattva guiding the scholars to get away from the annoyance of writing with “the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment”. Xiao Tong also had practiced "the Way of Bodhisattva" by way of back propagation.
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