Ancient Echoes: Reading the Classics of Chinese Ancient Literature

Author: Wang Furén
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: How to face literary classics is a question. The literary classics of ancient and modern China and the world have formed a magnificent fortress, but this city does not have a "Commander of the Nine Gates," no guards and archers to inspect and shoot at passersby. Readers can enter and leave freely. Thus, there are "bandits" who gallop into the city and swiftly ride out again—they can consume 1 million classic texts in one night, experiencing the long "War and Peace" like fast-motion film footage, then excrete only a fraction or all of it. There are "romantics" who, once inside, become infatuated with a small pavilion for their entire lives—seeing all skyscrapers as wooden "Red Mansions" and all real life as the old "dreams" of past dynasties. There are scholars or intellectuals who climb the speaker's platform in the central square upon entering the city—using the humanistic issues behind "Doctor Zhivago" as a pretext, they face reality and raise their arms in exclamation. There are "formalists" interested in the materials, textures, sounds, colors, shadows, lines, and structures of the city's architecture—they emphasize taste and enjoyment, enjoying picking the meat from crab pincers in autumn, drinking intoxicating liquids, and reciting Tang and Song poetry. There are "schemers" who steal skills, focusing mainly on techniques and art—after studying, they often build small pavilions or even taller ones, calling it "transcendence," or fear others have acrophobia, building low-rise houses, calling it "popularization," or building even more bizarre structures that offer no shelter from wind or sun, or even not building at all, just piling up bricks to let them weather the sun and rain, with grass and birds growing freely—this also has a name, "deconstruction"—among these people, masters often rise unexpectedly, because all masters go through a mysterious stage of learning by stealth. There are university teachers and researchers holding research topics— они должны войти в город, чтобы написать некоторые стандартные статьи, принять участие в оценке профессиональных званий за пределами города и в оценке социальных наук. In addition, there are those who, having been angered by the world, retreat into the city to relax, and those who wander into the city to pass the time that never seems to end; there are college students who are far from graduation or about to graduate. These are the various ways of entering or staying in the literary fortress. But how will our series enter? This depends on the purpose of our editing this series. Our goal is to contribute the best possible knowledge, ideas, and reading paths about literature to those who love it, and we hope our expressions are accepted by most readers with ease and pleasure. It can be certain, therefore, that our series will not adopt any of the above methods to enter. When facing the literary classics of ancient and modern China and the world, this series is both professional, providing professional methods and insights, and breaks through narrow academic approaches, emphasizing freshness, closeness, casualness, and textual interest, with a broad vision yet meticulous attention, valuing sensibility and pointing directly to the heart. This series is neither lifeless research nor vulgar appreciation—we adhere to a "middle path," with history and understanding, with both literature and substance, striving to be "harmonious in character and substance." This series includes three volumes: "Ancient Echoes—Reading Chinese Classical Literature," "The Path of Sensibility—Reading 20th-Century Chinese Literature," and "The Poet God from Afar—Reading Foreign Literature." May you benefit from opening this book. This book is part of the "New Classic Reading Series." When facing the literary classics of ancient and modern China and the world, this book is both professional, providing professional methods and insights, and breaks through narrow academic approaches, emphasizing freshness, closeness, casualness, and textual interest, with a broad vision yet meticulous attention, valuing sensibility and pointing directly to the heart.