The reflection of early medieval Chinese “Letter written in response to Cao Pi, who wished to borrow a wide belt” by Liu Zhen (179-217) in the ancient European literary and philosophical thought

The article provides a line-by-line translation and commentary, as well as a consistent analysis of the “Letter written in response to Cao Pi, who wished to borrow a wide belt” by Liu Zhen (179-217), one the representatives of the multitude of “Seven Masters of Jianan”. “Letter.” is an epistolary composition not yet translated into Russian or studied in Russian sinology. The main attention is paid to the consideration of the rhetorical nature of the Early Medieval Chinese prosaic epistle, as well as its typological comparison with the Ancient European theory and practice of epistolography and rhetoric. The author suggests a four-part compositional division of the “Letter...”, namely a proof by means of which persuasion is achieved (I, II), the subject-matter of the oratory (III), a conclusion in which the final answer is given (IV). In the text of the “Letter.” like in oratory, the subject, topic, problem, thesis, goal, idea that are singled out. The epistolary oratory in the “Letter.” is deliberative and epideictic; the “Letter.” itself is allegorical: the narrative, descriptive, logical, rhetorical means used by the author obscure the moral, ethical, the philosophic and didactic backgrounds. The analysis of the “Letter.”, carried out on the Ancient European theoretical material, once again confirms the validity of applying the comparative approach to literatures close in time and remote in space - in particular, to Early Medieval Chinese and Ancient European ones.