Collection of Peng Yulin - Three Volumes

Author: Yue Lu Shu She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This is the re-publication of Peng Yulin's collected works after more than 100 years. The book is divided into three volumes: the first volume contains memorial essays, the second volume includes poems, couplets, letters, etc., and the third volume is an appendix, which collects the Tongzhi-era Hengyang County Gazetteer and Record of Mourning and Honor, among others. The font size is not small, but it comes with a magnifying glass and is packaged in a large box, giving it a "luxurious" appearance—though it is quite unnecessary. The editing of this book is truly questionable. In fact, the main content of the entire book is the Memorial Essays of Peng Gangzhigong and Poetry of Peng Gangzhigong edited by Yu Yue, but the original prefaces and postfaces of the book are not included in this collection either. The Hengyang County Gazetteer in the appendix was included merely to fill space and is incomplete, with original illustrations and other materials removed. What is commendable is that the editor collected Peng Yulin's letters and plum blossom paintings from the Hunan Library, Museum, Shanghai Museum, and other institutions, most of which were published for the first time. Legend has it that Peng Yulin painted over 10,000 plum blossoms, with his works spread across the world, but the editor managed to gather only over 20 pieces. It seems there is still much work to be done in collecting more.