Ancient Capital's Inscription: Lao She's Illustrated Beijing

Author: Lao She
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Preface: The origin of this book is as follows: In Lao She's novels, there is a considerable amount of vivid and realistic descriptions of Beijing, covering a wide range of topics. Twenty years ago, while writing the article "On Lao She's Works and Beijing City," I had an idea: to collect all the main passages describing Beijing in Lao She's works and compile them into a separate book. Beijing is already enchanting, and Lao She had his own unique techniques for writing about landscapes, coupled with his deep understanding and special affection for Beijing. The resulting descriptions would undoubtedly be even more interesting and engaging. From a content perspective, this book "Lao She Paints Beijing" is roughly divided into five sections: 1. The Climate of Beijing; 2. The Festivals of Beijing; 3. The Places of Beijing; 4. The Customs and Amusements of Beijing; 5. The People of Beijing. One category I excluded is Beijing's language, despite Lao She's numerous works on Beijing dialects, as I felt it belonged to a separate specialized field. The selection range includes seven of Lao She's novels set in Beijing: "The Philosophy of Lao Zhang," "Zhao Ziyu," "Divorce," "Rickshaw Boy," "My Whole Life," "Four Generations Under One Roof," and "Under the Red Flag." Additionally, several essays specifically written about Beijing were included. All selected passages are clearly marked with their sources. The principles for selecting and editing the articles are as follows: 1. Minimize the inclusion of plot details or specific characters, focusing only on "pure" descriptions of Beijing. 2. If a passage includes character descriptions unrelated to Beijing, those characters will be removed while maintaining the coherence and fluency of the sentences above and below. Naturally, only deletions will be made without additions. If a passage cannot be edited sufficiently, it will be omitted. 3. Scattered descriptions were not included (as there are so many of them), with a preference for selecting full paragraphs. As a result, the selected passages resemble independent articles, ensuring they are not misunderstood due to excessive reliance on the story. For clarity, all selected passages are given short subheadings. In a letter dated September 11, 1985, Ba Jin wrote: "Lao She and Beijing have a deep connection and have made significant contributions. How much he loves the people of Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays them." The relevance between scenery and characters is a psychological, physiological, and philosophical analysis. That is to say, the author is so familiar with the scenery he describes that he treats it as if it has a soul, making it alive and specific in every detail, with nothing vague. I believe that readers who read this book "Lao She Paints Beijing" may also add: "How much he loves Beijing, and how vividly and lovably he portrays it!" Shuyi