Color Illustration Version 100 Essays You Should Read in Your Lifetime

Author: Yu Qiuyu, Rabindranath Tagore
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: As a pivotal and widely influential genre in the literary hall, prose serves as an indispensable spiritual nourishment for people. This book selects 100 outstanding prose masterpieces, categorized into eight sections such as "Essays That Touch the Heart," "Most Beautiful Travelogues," "Soul-Nourishing Soup," "The Power of Thought," "Life Reflections," "Essays That Never Fail to Entertain," "Masterpieces of the Greats," and "The Charm of Culture." The content is rich, the format is distinctive, and the illustrations are accurate. Additionally, auxiliary columns like "Selection Rationale," "Author Biography," and "Work Appreciation" are included to provide readers with guided reading suggestions. The editors strive to integrate text and content with exquisite images through innovative layout design, making profound thoughts and words more approachable and enjoyable. The power of culture and the vibrancy of illustrations flow together, accompanying readers on a delightful journey of colorful reading.
[Selection Rationale] "The Background" is one of Zhu Ziqing's most representative prose works and a in modern Chinese literary history that expresses parental love. Zhu Ziqing (1898–1948), styled Peiyuan, was a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, and a modern Chinese writer and scholar. During his studies at Peking University, he participated in the May Fourth Movement, co-founded the "Chinese New Poetry Society," and launched the literary journal 《》. He was an early member of the Literary Research Society. After the war of resistance, he joined anti-Jiang and anti-American struggles, refused to accept American relief grain, and died of poverty and illness. His main works include the poetry collections 《Snow Morning》 and 《Traces》, and the prose collections 《The Background》 and 《Notes on a European Journey》. His prose is fresh and elegant in style, pioneering the creation of modern Chinese prose.
The Background
I haven’t seen my father for over two years, and the image of his back remains unforgettable. That winter, my grandmother passed away, and my father lost his job—tragedy upon tragedy. I traveled from Beijing to Xuzhou to follow my father for the funeral. Upon arriving in Xuzhou, I saw the chaos in the courtyard and remembered my grandmother, and couldn’t help but weep. My father said, “It’s already like this; don’t be too sad. After all, the heavens won’t abandon anyone completely!” At home, he sold and mortgaged property to cover his debts and organized the funeral. Those days, the family’s circumstances were dire, partly due to the funeral and partly because my father was unemployed. After the funeral, my father was to seek work in Nanjing, and I was to return to Beijing for studies, so we traveled together. In Nanjing, a friend invited me to sightsee, and we lingered for a day. The next morning, I had to cross the river to Pukou and take a train north. Since my father was busy, he initially said he wouldn’t send me, asking a familiar waiter at the hotel to accompany me. He repeatedly instructed the waiter, very carefully. But he still felt uneasy, fearing the waiter might not be attentive enough; he hesitated for a while. In truth, I was already twenty years old and had traveled to Beijing twice before—nothing too serious. After some hesitation, he decided to go with me after all. I persuaded him not to go a few times, but he only said, “It’s fine; it’s not good for them to go!”
We crossed the river and entered the station. I bought a ticket, and he rushed to check the luggage. There was so much luggage that I had to tip the porters to let us through. He then hurried to bargain with them. At that time, I was overly clever, always feeling his speech wasn’t elegant enough and needing to intervene myself. But he finally settled the price and sent me to the train. He chose a seat near the door for me and spread my purple wool coat over it. He reminded me to be careful on the road, stay alert at night, and not to catch a cold. He also asked the waiter to take good care of me. I secretly laughed at his fussiness; they only cared about money, and entrusting them was pointless! And I was already grown—couldn’t I manage myself? Ah, now I think back, I was too clever back then!
I said, “Father, you should go.” He glanced outside the train window and said, “I’ll buy some oranges. You stay here and don’t move.” I saw a few vendors waiting for customers outside the platform’s fence. To reach the other side, I had to cross the tracks, go down, and climb back up. My father was a stout man, so it would naturally take him more effort. I wanted to go with him, but he refused, so I had to let him go. I saw him wearing a small black cloth hat, a black cloth overcoat, and a dark blue cotton robe, shuffling to the tracks and slowly bending down—it wasn’t too difficult. But crossing the tracks and climbing onto the other platform was much harder. He gripped the platform with both hands, pulling his legs up. His stout body leaned slightly to the left, showing his effort. At that moment, I saw his back, and my tears flowed quickly. I quickly wiped them away, afraid he’d see me and others would too. When I looked again, he was already walking back with a bunch of bright red oranges.
When crossing the tracks, he scattered the oranges on the ground, slowly climbed down, and then picked them up to walk back. When he reached the other side, I quickly went to help him. We walked to the train, and he piled the oranges onto my coat. Then he brushed the dust off his clothes, as if relieved, and after a while said, “I’m leaving. Write to me when you get there!” I watched him walk away. After a few steps, he turned back and saw me, saying, “Go inside, there’s no one there.” When his back blended into the crowd, I couldn’t find him anymore, so I sat inside and my tears flowed again.
In recent years, both my father and I have been constantly moving around, and the family’s situation has grown worse day by day. He left to seek an income in his youth and supported the family single-handedly, accomplishing many great things. But in his old age, he became so frail! His grief was so deep that he couldn’t help but express it outwardly; trivial family matters often provoked his anger. His attitude toward me gradually changed. But after not seeing him for the past two years, he finally forgot my faults and only worried about me, about my son. After I came north, he wrote me a letter saying, “I’m doing well, but my arm hurts badly. It’s difficult to hold chopsticks or write, so perhaps my time is near.” Reading this, tears shining in my eyes, I once again saw that stout figure in his dark blue cotton robe and black cloth overcoat. Ah! I don’t know when I’ll see him again!
Work Appreciation
"The Background" was written in 1926 and published in the 200th issue of 《Literature》 that year. It is a reflective prose piece. The essay uses the "back" as a focal point and the love between father and son as its underlying theme, recounting the scene of the father sending the author to Beijing for studies at the Pukou station years ago. It reveals the father’s meticulous care and expresses the deep affection for his family. The essay employs simple, unadorned language to narrate sincerely and naturally, with particularly successful portrayal of the father’s "back." Though only over a thousand words long, the prose conveys the father-son bond with sincerity, depth, and moving subtlety.
After its publication, "The Background" caused a sensation in society, especially resonating with middle and lower-class intellectuals. The essay not only has strong emotional impact but also influenced the style of modern and contemporary Chinese prose that focuses on family love, making it a timeless masterpiece.