Mirror-Maze Journey Through Strange Countries

Author: Shi Yanbo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Flowers in the Mirror is a relatively outstanding novel that emerged in the mid-Qing Dynasty. The author, Li Ruzhen, was from Daxing, Zhili (now Beijing). He was intelligent and studious from a young age, knowledgeable in both the past and present, and had profound expertise in phonology. Unfortunately, he achieved little official success in his lifetime, serving only as a minor county administrator in Henan for a few years. Flowers in the Mirror consists of 100 chapters, set during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian. The central theme of the work is to praise women and oppose the prevailing male-dominated, female-subordinate social of the time. The essence of the novel lies in its first half, where Tang Ao and Lin Zhiyang travel through dozens of fantastical overseas countries, satirizing the dark realities of the era and expressing the author's social ideals, particularly the call for improving women's status. In Flowers in the Mirror, women are no longer the protagonists of love stories but active participants in social life, a groundbreaking concept in classical fiction. The second half depicts a series of feasts where a hundred talented women play the lute, compose poetry, discuss academic theories, and enjoy themselves before parting. In reality, the author uses the women's conversations to showcase his own erudition. This book selects some classic chapters from Flowers in the Mirror and introduces them to young readers in the form of stories. Additionally, each story is accompanied by a "Knowledge Window" to broaden and deepen reading comprehension. It is hoped that this approach will help young readers better understand classical masterpieces.