Lao She's Illustrated Beijing

Author: Lao She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Preface: The origin of this book is as follows: In Lao She's novels, there is a considerable amount of writing about Beijing, which is highly realistic, brilliant, and covers a wide range of topics. Twenty years ago, while writing the article "On Lao She's Works and Beijing City," I had an idea: to collect all the main passages describing Beijing in Lao She's works and compile them into a standalone book. Beijing is already enchanting, and Lao She had his own unique techniques for writing about landscapes, coupled with his deep understanding and special affection for Beijing. The Beijing he portrayed would undoubtedly be even more interesting and vivid. From a content classification perspective, this book "Lao She Paints Beijing" is roughly divided into five sections: 1. Beijing's Climate; 2. Beijing's Festivals; 3. Places in Beijing; 4. Beijing's Customs and Entertainment; 5. People of Beijing. There is one category of content that I excluded—Beijing's language—despite Lao She's numerous works on Beijing dialects. I felt that it was already a separate specialized field. The selection range includes seven of Lao She's novels set in Beijing: "The Philosophy of Lao Zhang," "Zhao Ziyu," "Divorce," "Rickshaw Boy," "My Whole Life," "Four Generations Under One Roof," and "Under the Red Flag." Additionally, several essays specifically written about Beijing were included. All selected passages are annotated with their sources. The principles for selecting and editing the articles are as follows: 1. Minimize plot details and specific characters, selecting only those passages that are "pure" descriptions of Beijing. 2. If character descriptions unrelated to Beijing are interspersed, the characters will be removed while maintaining the coherence and fluency of the sentences above and below. Naturally, only deletions will be made without additions. If it is impossible to edit, the passage may be discarded. 3. Scattered descriptions were not included (as there are so many of them), focusing instead on full paragraphs of descriptions. This way, the selected passages appear as independent articles, avoiding the issue of being incomprehensible due to excessive reliance on the story. For clarity, short subtitles are added to all selected passages. In a letter written on September 11, 1985, Ba Jin once wrote: "Lao She has a deep connection with Beijing and has made significant contributions. How much he loves the people of Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays them." The relevance between scenery and characters is a psychological, physiological, and philosophical analysis. That is to say, the writer is so familiar with the scenery he depicts that he treats it as if it has a soul, making it alive and specific in every detail, with nothing vague. I believe that readers who read "Lao She Paints Beijing" may also add: "How much he loves Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays it!" Shuyi Preface: The origin of this book is as follows: In Lao She's novels, there is a considerable amount of writing about Beijing, which is highly realistic, brilliant, and covers a wide range of topics. Twenty years ago, while writing the article "On Lao She's Works and Beijing City," I had an idea: to collect all the main passages describing Beijing in Lao She's works and compile them into a standalone book. Beijing is already enchanting, and Lao She had his own unique techniques for writing about landscapes, coupled with his deep understanding and special affection for Beijing. The Beijing he portrayed would undoubtedly be even more interesting and vivid. From a content classification perspective, this book "Lao She Paints Beijing" is roughly divided into five sections: 1. Beijing's Climate; 2. Beijing's Festivals; 3. Places in Beijing; 4. Beijing's Customs and Entertainment; 5. People of Beijing. There is one category of content that I excluded—Beijing's language—despite Lao She's numerous works on Beijing dialects. I felt that it was already a separate specialized field. The selection range includes seven of Lao She's novels set in Beijing: "The Philosophy of Lao Zhang," "Zhao Ziyu," "Divorce," "Rickshaw Boy," "My Whole Life," "Four Generations Under One Roof," and "Under the Red Flag." Additionally, several essays specifically written about Beijing were included. All selected passages are annotated with their sources. The principles for selecting and editing the articles are as follows: 1. Minimize plot details and specific characters, selecting only those passages that are "pure" descriptions of Beijing. 2. If character descriptions unrelated to Beijing are interspersed, the characters will be removed while maintaining the coherence and fluency of the sentences above and below. Naturally, only deletions will be made without additions. If it is impossible to edit, the passage may be discarded. 3. Scattered descriptions were not included (as there are so many of them), focusing instead on full paragraphs of descriptions. This way, the selected passages appear as independent articles, avoiding the issue of being incomprehensible due to excessive reliance on the story. For clarity, short subtitles are added to all selected passages. In a letter written on September 11, 1985, Ba Jin once wrote: "Lao She has a deep connection with Beijing and has made significant contributions. How much he loves the people of Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays them." The relevance between scenery and characters is a psychological, physiological, and philosophical analysis. That is to say, the writer is so familiar with the scenery he depicts that he treats it as if it has a soul, making it alive and specific in every detail, with nothing vague. I believe that readers who read "Lao She Paints Beijing" may also add: "How much he loves Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays it!" Shuyi