My miscellany

Author: Zhou Zuoren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: He was originally from the naval forces and knew he was not a scholar, nor an intellectual. His work was merely menial tasks like chopping wood, fetching water, and sweeping the floor. He was happy to help with the search for ballads, fairy tales, and folklore, as well as the translation of Eastern European, Japanese, and Greek literature. However, this was only possible when there was a real lack of manpower. Once specialists emerged in each field, he had to retreat and return to his chores of sweeping and chopping wood. – Zhou Zuoren's Autobiography
Among all the ways Zhou Zuoren described his own theories and writings, the term "eclectic" was the one he used most frequently. He often lamented the diversity of his intellectual influences and referred to his reading as "eclectic." During a certain period, he called his articles that blended various styles "eclectic essays." He proudly declared that he did not want to be included in either the "Scholar's Chronicle" or the "Literary Canon," but rather took delight in being labeled an "eclectic."
The entire book is based on Zhou Zuoren's essay My Eclectic Studies and selects thirty-one articles from the ten volumes of Zhou Zuoren's Literary Anthology, edited by Zhong Shuhe, and organizes them into three parts: China, The West, and The East. Among the "Eighteen Eclectic Studies" on foreign languages, those related to Zhou Zuoren's translation work are included in both the The West and The East sections. The "Nineteen Eclectic Studies" on Buddhist scriptures, represented by On Precepts, are also compiled into the China section. The essay My Eclectic Studies itself serves as an "outline" and is placed at the beginning of the three sections.