Luo Yin Shi Academic Works (Volume 4)

Author: Wu Shichang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-01-01
Features: Postscript: The content of this volume can be broadly divided into two categories: one is the Redology and literary historical treatises that were not included in the first three volumes, and the other is some contemporary essays, new and old literary creations, and memoirs. The Origins of the Dream of the Red Chamber was originally a monograph written in English during the author's lectures at the University of Oxford. The first three volumes were completed in 1956, while the last two were written between 1957 and 1958. In 1958, some revisions were made to the first three volumes, and an [Introduction] (omitted in this book) was written in 1960. It was published by Oxford University Press in 1961. After the author returned to China, many people requested its translation into Chinese for publication. However, at the time, the author considered that the book was written abroad and that the available materials were limited. Later, he was busy conducting further research based on new materials he had acquired (the papers were later compiled into The Origins of the Dream of the Red Chamber: Additional Essays in 1980). During this period, the "Cultural Revolution" occurred, and the translation of The Origins of the Dream of the Red Chamber was thus shelved. When the author began editing the text for this volume, his graduate students Dong Naibin, Liu Yangzhong, and others believed that The Origins of the Dream of the Red Chamber was one of the author's important works, and many people in China had yet to read it. The Academic Writings of Luoyin Studio was therefore determined to include it. This was very reasonable. While considering hiring someone to translate the book, we suddenly discovered the author's handwritten manuscript of the translation of the first half of the book. Based on the paper analysis, it seemed to have been written around the time he returned to China. After comparing it with the original book, we found that there were many additions and corrections (such as the expansion of the original Section 4 of Chapter 6 into a separate chapter). This discovery filled us with joy, and we immediately asked two young teachers from the Department of Foreign Languages at Tsinghua University, Cao Li and Sun Yugen, to translate the second half of the book, combining it with the author's own translation to delight the readers. Cao and Sun are not specialists in classical Chinese literature, but they did their utmost to remain faithful to the original text, which was no easy task. We are especially grateful to them for this. The original English version included an introduction by Arthur Waley and a bilingual bibliography, but due to space limitations, they were omitted. The formation of An Outline of Chinese Characterology has an interesting story: In late 1939, Mr. Xu Shouchang was transferred from Sun Yat-sen University to West China University of Science and Technology in Chengdu. He urgently telegraphed Mr. Wu, who was then teaching at Northwest United University in Chengdu, to take over his courses on Chinese characterology and other subjects. They in Chengdu. The author had to step in quickly, writing lecture notes as he taught, and An Outline of Chinese Characterology was thus born. From its content, it seems to be the outline conceived by Mr. Xu, while Mr. Wu supplemented it with a large amount of material and viewpoints. Therefore, Mr. Wu always said it was [co-authored] with Mr. Xu. Later, Mr. Wu was dismissed from Sun Yat-sen University for refusing to cooperate with the Nationalist Party members there, and the lecture notes remained unfinished. Now both elders have passed away, and this half-finished lecture note is a crystallization of their friendship and collaboration. A Study of the Modern Meanings of "jí," "zé," "zhǐ," "zhǐ," "qiě," and "jiù" is one of the author's early important papers. The author did not include it in volume due to its length and dryness. Now that the author has passed away, to prevent his manuscripts from being scattered and to facilitate research, we have included it along with the unpublished A Discussion on the Forms and Meanings of Chinese Characters and a group of articles on Chinese dietary history written after the compilation of volume. According to the author's original plan, this volume was supposed to include contemporary essays and literary creations, but since the above-mentioned specialized essays have been added, the space is limited, and we had to reluctantly omit a large number of contemporary essays and prose. The author's essays had distinctive features, targeting societal issues, and many of his pre-liberation articles still hold relevance today. Here, we have selected China Needs Book Reviews and On Academic Ethics to give a glimpse. The Collected Poems and Prose of Luoyin Studio was published twice in Hong Kong in 1963 and 1984, but few mainland readers have seen it. It was included in this volume with additional supplements. The author wrote many essays throughout his life, some of which were published in a dedicated collection early on. He also wrote novels and plays, to the extent that when he graduated,asked him if he would like to teach drama at the University of Hawaii. After several wars, these works were severely lost, and they have not yet been fully collected. Most of the essays in this volume were written after the author returned to China.