Abstract: Liu Xie (ca. 465-520) attached great importance to the literary virtues, and developed this unique elaboration of the concept in his Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragon. His elaborations in many chapters in the book redressed the prejudice that the literary man had no virtues, and he claimed that literary men should have the practical abilities, faith and sincerity, and personal integrity in political affairs and literary creation, no matter in the officialdom or in retreat. The paper argues that Liu Xie's emphasis on practice was rooted with his clan's quick rise and fall in the social status, and that his concept of literary virtue was influential not only in redressing the common evils at the time but also in inspiring the later studies of literature and literary theory.

Key words: Liu Xie, literary virtue, practical abilities, faith and sincerity, integrity