Flowers of Literature Series - Selected Prose of Ke Ling

Author: Ke Ling (Author), Tang Jinhai (Editor), Zhang Xiaoyun (Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Millions of essays, millions of life attitudes, embodying the emotions of masters as they contemplate nature and experience life and death. Life is like the changing seasons, with flowers blooming and falling, yet the truths within these chapters will be etched forever. Reading this book, you will linger among the works of renowned authors, savoring the love of family and the care of friends. A force of goodness will nourish the parched soul and invigorate the withering life. Together, let us enjoy the exquisite and immortal works, feeling the beauty through the pen of the masters. The moment you open this book becomes a part of your life, enjoying the joy of reading, the joy of perception, and the joy of life. Every selected essay is widely acclaimed and can be considered a masterpiece of language and literature. Throughout history, how many exquisite essays, like pearls, have shone brilliantly! The "Hundred Flowers Essay Series" may not claim to have strung them together into a necklace, but here they are no longer scattered pearls but are more accessible for reading and appreciation. The selected essays focus on lyrical and narrative prose; the themes range from society and life to parting and flowers. The styles are both grand and unrestrained, as well as subtle and reserved. The "Hundred Flowers Essay Series" draws from a wide range of sources, embracing all. It may not be called a "Gathering of Treasures," but the works collected here still shine with brilliance and inspiration. The "Hundred Flowers Essay Series" includes the "Ancient Chinese Essays Series," the "Modern Chinese Essays Series," and the "Contemporary Chinese Essays Series," all published in separate volumes, each featuring essays by different authors. Ancient Chinese essays have a long and profound history, with deep roots and lush branches. Like poetry, they are one of the most important and distinctive forms of ancient Chinese literature, as well as a splendid cultural treasure in the history of human civilization. To promote the excellent culture of the Chinese nation, inherit the fine traditions of ancient essays, and foster the prosperity and improvement of contemporary essay writing, as well as provide readers with references and enjoyment, this "Ancient Chinese Essays Series" has been compiled as a part of the "Hundred Flowers Essay Series." The scope of the essay genre has evolved over time, differing between ancient and modern eras. This series primarily selects essays with strong literary qualities, such as lyrical and descriptive prose. The selected authors range from the pre-Qin period to the Qing Dynasty, with each author's works compiled in separate volumes. The order of essays in each book is generally based on the chronological order of their composition, allowing readers to understand the development and evolution of essay writing. Each book in the series is divided into two parts: one is an essay, which includes brief introductions to the author's life and literary activities, with a focus on analyzing and reviewing their essay writing philosophy, especially their artistic characteristics, the development of their essay writing, and its influence. The other part is the essays themselves, each accompanied by a title explanation and annotations. The essay part aims to complement and enhance the prose part, helping readers achieve a rational understanding of the selected essays through essays, while the selected essays deepen readers' intuitive understanding of the essays, creating a mutual reinforcement. This way, the series not only serves as a collection of selected essays for reading but also, to some extent, functions as a study of the author and even a history of ancient essays, differing from general essay selections and general histories of ancient essays while possessing its own unique characteristics. Each selected essay in the series, in addition to the representative and outstanding works of the authors, also considers essays from different periods, themes, and styles to reflect the development of the author's essay writing. The title explanations not only interpret relevant words, specialized terms, and explain the writing time and sources but also provide concise reviews of the background, ideological value, artistic characteristics, and artistic techniques of the works. The annotations primarily focus on explaining difficult characters, words, allusions, official positions, artifacts, names, and places. For important and uniquely used terms, references or examples are cited to help readers not only understand "what" but also "why." Ke Ling (1909.2.15-) was originally named Gao Jilin and was originally from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and was born in Guangzhou. In 1926, he entered the literary world by publishing the narrative poem "The Weaver Woman" in Shanghai's Women's Magazine. In 1941, he collaborated with Shi Tuo to adapt Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths into a stage play titled Night Club (later adapted into a film), which had a wide impact. In 1948, he joined the Wen Bao in Hong Kong. In 1949, he returned to Shanghai and joined the Communist Party the following year. He served as Deputy President and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Wen Bao, Director of the Shanghai Film Script Creation Institute, Director of the Shanghai Film Art Research Institute, Editor-in-Chief of Mass Film, Secretary of the Shanghai Writers' Association, and Deputy Chairman of the Shanghai Film Association. This book includes 47 essays by Ke Ling, including "Alley," "Dreaming in Suzhou," and "In Memory of Zhao Dan."