Miscellaneous Notes on Yue Affairs

Author: Chen Xuechun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Baihua Literature Publishing House is preparing to publish a series titled "Jiangnan Wind and Moon," aiming to showcase the cultural landscape of Jiangnan through the form of large-scale prose from a macro cultural perspective. I once joked with Wang Jiaju, a Suzhou-based collaborator on the project, that since we're talking about "wind and moon," it seems inseparable from women—without women, is it still "wind and moon"? Jiaju smiled and said it would be great if we could, but it's not necessarily so. In reality, he remained noncommittal.
Excerpt: The Beauty Trap and the Beauty in the Beauty Trap When Fan Li, the, first saw Xi Shi, his eyes must have sparkled, possibly even accompanied by a mild case of brain. Who doesn't love looking at beauty? Men enjoy it, women enjoy it too—heroes and beauties often come from the same family, especially when Fan Li was such a hero. No one has ever seen Xi Shi; she exists only in the piles of historical and exams, and the few portraits of her that occasionally appear are impossible to identify as her—likely because they're not accurate. A travelogue from the 1930s described Zhu Luo Village as located at the southern end of Zhuji, beside a small mountain named "Zhu Luo." It took about half an hour to reach it along the Pu Yang River. At the entrance stood a black wooden archway inscribed with "Ancient Zhu Luo Village." Beyond that, peach and plum blossoms flourished, their fragrance filling the air, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.