Wen Yiduo's Annotations on Old-Style Poems and Prose in His Youth

Author: Wen [Name Omitted]
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 2003
Features: The Collection of Ancient Tiles is a handwritten anthology of classical Chinese poetry and prose compiled by my father, Wen Yiduo, in his home in Wencheng Village, Baha Township, Huishui County, Hubei Province, on July 4, 1921, when he was only 21 years old. It includes one vernacular Autobiographical Preface, 18 classical essays, odes, and prose pieces, and 33 classical poems (or 46 verses), totaling 52 pieces. In addition to the aforementioned works, the book supplements 34 classical poems and prose pieces from his youth found in other publications and manuscripts held by the National Library. Thus, the book contains all 85 classical works written by Wen Yiduo between the ages of 14 and 25 (excluding his co-authored article Scout), along with the Autobiographical Preface, making a total of 86 pieces. These include 44 classical essays, odes, and prose pieces, 41 classical poems (46 verses), and one vernacular Autobiographical Preface.
These youthful works of Wen Yiduo are rich in emotion, lively in thought, diverse in style, polished in prose, elegant in language, beautiful in imagery, insightful in perspective, profound in meaning, imbued with patriotic sentiments, deeply rooted in historical context, and marked by a distinct era. They hold considerable academic research value, literary appreciation value, and broad significance in moral and ethical education. Everyone should read them. However, most of these works lack annotations on their historical context, use archaic language, and contain highly specialized content, covering a vast range of ancient Chinese culture, history, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, astronomy, geography, human affairs, flora and fauna, and more. They encompass classics, history, philosophy, poetry, calligraphy and painting, names of places and institutions, idioms, and allusions. Among the historical figures mentioned, there are as many as 286, most of whom are referred to by their given names, courtesy names, titles, posthumous honors, official ranks, geographical designations, and other uncommon appellations, rather than their surnames. These elements pose challenges for general readers in understanding the works. To facilitate reading, systematic annotations have been provided for the entire text.