Modern Prose Selections

Author: Shen Qiwu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: In the past two or three years, Qiwu has meticulously selected and compiled two volumes using the collections of famous literary works from libraries and private collections in Beijing. The essence of each author is gathered here, not only making it convenient to read but also allowing rare ancient classics and long-forgotten masterpieces to be accessible to the public, giving scholars and ordinary readers the opportunity to appreciate them. What merit is this work not profound? – Zhou Zuoren praised Mr. Shen’s effort in collecting and compiling, allowing us to read many articles that are rarely seen. People with conscience should be grateful. – Qian Zhongshu This book is divided into two volumes, published in September and December of 1932, respectively. It primarily focuses on the late (Gong’an) and (Jingling) schools, collecting 172 works by 17 authors, with 115 in the first volume and 57 in the second. The selected authors range from the (the three Yuan brothers of the Gong’an school) to , , and . In Shen’s collection, is considered the great synthesizer who embodies the strengths of both the Gong’an and Jingling schools, while and represent the later trends of late Ming prose. The most selected works are by and , with 23 and 28 pieces, respectively. Although these later authors lived in the early Qing dynasty, they were essentially Ming (survivors of the Ming dynasty), and their writings still reflect the spirit of the Ming people. The book includes biographical materials on each author and a bibliography of the collected works.