The Disaster of a Beard – Selected Essays by Zhang Youlan

Author: Zhang Yuxuan, Compiler
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not Available
Features: This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of my father, Mr. Zhang Youlan. From publishing an article in Shanghai Daily·Free Talk in 1921 to stopping writing in 1986 due to a stroke, my father devoted 65 years to writing. He wrote numerous serialized novels and works on classical literature, and countless essays, satirical pieces,, and short stories in newspapers and magazines. Over the past 50 years, only more than ten of his works have been published, including novels, selected ancient fables, and theatrical stories, while his essays and in newspapers and magazines were never collected into books. As a result, Mr. Nie Gongnuo once poetically remarked, "Famous writings lack" (meaning they were not published). To commemorate my father's 100th birthday, with the help and urging of our family, my daughter Zhang Tian and I searched and compiled this manuscript, deciding to publish a collection of his. Although this collection only includes a small portion of my father's works, fortunately, they span from the 1920s to the 1980s, covering various historical periods. Based on the writing dates and content, the collection is divided into eight sections.
Section "Before Jishuitan Lake" includes works from the 1920s, primarily articles from a combined volume of Creative Daily and Beijing Daily·Literary Week. The articles from Creative Daily were photocopied by Zhang Tian in early 1990 from the Beijing Library to research her grandfather's literary activities during his youth. At the time, my father was bedridden in Nanjing and passed away before he could see them. The combined volume of Beijing Daily·Literary Week was later found by my father in a second-hand book stall during the late Cultural Revolution. Although only more than ten articles are included, they provide some insight into my father's early literary contributions to the New Literature movement. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, my father wrote columns for Xinmin Daily in Chongqing and Chengdu, publishing a large number of articles, but he himself never kept any records. My father's old friend Chen Liyuan, who knew him well at Xinmin Daily, was particularly enthusiastic. After the Cultural Revolution, he had some of my father's articles from his columns "Curved News" and "Mountain City Night Songs" copied and given to him. In 1986, United Daily launched the column "Bashan Night Words," republishing some of his articles. Therefore, the second section of this collection is titled "Bashan Night Words," selecting articles from 1935 to 1943. For these two historical periods, due to the passage of time, it is extremely difficult to fully understand my father's works. Currently, we can only "touch upon a few and leave the rest behind."
From 1963 to 1965, my father's peak period for writing essays and, or perhaps his peak period for publishing works in general. The Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao launched columns such as "Youlan's" and "New Readings of the Old," while the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po launched the column "New Chapters in a Prosperous Era." Although some clippings may be missing, most have been preserved. The third, fourth, and fifth sections of this collection are titled "New Chapters in a Prosperous Era," "Youlan's," and "New Readings of the Old," respectively, and include these works. A few late works are grouped together due to similar content.
After the Cultural Revolution, my father, already in his twilight years, resumed his peak writing period. In addition to the column "Yanshan New Words" in the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po and the column "Raising the Beard to Talk" in the Hong Kong Xin Wen Bao, he also wrote for numerous newspapers and magazines such as Xinmin Evening News, Nanjing Daily, Beijing Evening News, Travel, Encyclopedic Knowledge, and News Research Materials. The sixth and seventh sections of this collection are titled "Yanshan New Words" and "Raising the Beard to Talk," respectively, and include most of the works from these columns. The eighth section, "Old News Talk," is mostly composed of late works, with a few exceptions, such as "It's a Bee, Not a Fly," which was attacked during the Anti-Rightist Campaign and published in Guangming Daily in 1957.
The articles my father published in newspapers and magazines cover a wide range of topics and styles: from insights gained through reading and historical anecdotes to personal experiences in politics, literature, and journalism; from reflective essays and to news features on individuals and events. Regardless of the content, his writing is always humorous and light-hearted, making it highly engaging to read. Collecting and publishing these articles is a way to honor my father and to preserve some invaluable historical materials from being lost.