Distance of Vigilance: A Collection of Essays by Zhou Guoping

Author: Zhou Guoping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: To date, my essays have been published in various versions and selected collections. Among them, there are three complete collections arranged in chronological order: "Guarding the Distance," published by Dongfang Press in June 1996, which collected essays from 1983 to April 1995; "Each Person's Pilgrimage Road," published by Dongfang Press in October 1999, which collected essays from April 1995 to 1998; and "Quiet," published by Beiyue Literature and Art Press in October 2002, which collected essays from 1999 to August 2002. These three can be considered the master copies for all other versions and selected collections, as they contain almost all the essays I have published in the nearly two decades. During the contract period with the original publisher, without any promotion, this book was printed 71,000 copies in five years, and I am deeply satisfied and grateful for this achievement. Now, after the contract has expired, I have made minor revisions to the book and republished it. There are three revisions made. First, during the first edition, the manuscript was submitted in a hurry, and many articles were cut and pasted from their original publications, some of which were inevitably edited by the editors of those publications. This time, they have all been restored to their original versions. Second, since the book "Niu Niu—A Father's Notes" has been published, the text excerpted from it has been removed. Third, several articles that were missed at the time have been added. In my life, the ten years when this book was written were truly a special and important period. At that time, I had just finished my graduate studies and welcomed my belated youth at the age of nearly forty. I had boundless energy, and everything seemed to be just beginning, as if I were to make a mark in the world of philosophy. However, during this period, a series of unexpected changes also occurred in my life. Looking back, perhaps it was those changes that forced me to temporarily set aside my academic plans and devote more energy to thinking about the puzzling questions of life that troubled me. On the surface, it seemed as if an external force knocked me off one track and onto another. But did I really deviate from the track of philosophy? I believe not. Throughout my life so far, I can no longer find a time when I received such beneficial help from philosophy, and for this, I am deeply grateful to philosophy. Most of the texts in this book were written a dozen or so years ago and can be considered old articles. What comforts me is that there are still readers who enjoy these texts, including the lovely young readers who have grown up since then. In this noisy era, for an ordinary person like me, it is quite enough if my writings are still read by someone after a dozen or so years. But I will not be complacent about this, because I know in my heart that my works have no qualification to be passed down through the ages. I believe only one thing: a person can only write for himself, and his works will have a relatively long life. In the future, whether it is academic works or literary works, I will still adhere to this principle. To write for oneself is also to write for every person who faces and thinks about the same problems as oneself. This is the only possible way I can imagine for writing for humanity.