Selected Works of Yang Jiang · We Three (Essays II): Essays II

Author: Yang Jiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: This book selects ten important essays written by the author from the late 1990s to the beginning of the new century. Among them, essays such as "The True Story of Qian Zhongshu Leaving Southwest Associated University" and "My Schooling at Qiming" are published for the first time and hold historical value. "A Dream That Wasn't a Dream" and "Two Stories of Chen Guangfu" record several puzzling yet real miraculous events, leaving readers deeply pondering. The family chronicle essay "We Three," published in June 2003, has generated a huge response in the literary world due to its sincere emotions and elegant, enduring prose. We need not mention the literary value of "We Three," nor the fact that it was written by a celebrity—we simply read about ordinary people in the lives of ordinary people in "We Three," and what a profound impact it would have? They lived ordinary lives yet remained so pure and transcendent. Yang Jiang was delighted to buy 300 catties of coal flour mixed with soil to make 500 catties of coal briquettes—such a mundane life, yet so close to us. Qian Zhongshu, as a great scholar, played with his beloved daughter like a child, hiding behind his desk and piano and shouting, "I'm not here!" in a joking manner. Could there be a deeper bond between father and daughter than this? Qian Zhongshu could draw mustaches on his sleeping daughter's face and funny faces on her stomach, showing the deep, blood-bound affection between father and daughter. In the past, we knew scholars and writers as rational learners, writers, and contributors to their fields, yet rarely understood the ordinary yet extraordinary family lives of great scholars like Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang. Reading "We Three" not only gave us insight into their family life but also revealed the immense spiritual power of their shared hardships and mutual support. They were both family and friends to each other, and the expression of this love, affection, and friendship made it impossible to summarize with just the word "love."