Zhang Yuanji (Vast Years in Books)

Author: Wang Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: This book is part of the "Elephant Figures in Focus Series," which presents the brilliant life of Zhang Yuanji with concise text and abundant images. In addition to the main text, excerpts of the subject's self-narratives and others' comments are included. The captions for the images are designed to break from conventional patterns, making them more lively and meaningful. This approach aims to present a person's life in multiple layers, from various perspectives, and vividly. This is a series that highlights historical photographs and visual materials. It is said that we are now in an image era. This is quite true. Regardless of television, films, CDs, and other media dominating cultural consumption and reading trends, the rise of old photographs, old cartoons, and old illustrations alone demonstrates that people are no longer satisfied with experiencing life and history through text. They are increasingly willing to read about people and history through historical images. Indeed, scenes of daily life, portraits, and even pages of manuscripts often contain richer and more unique content than descriptive text, thereby attracting readers' interest and sparking their imagination. Over the years, whenever I travel abroad, I always buy some books. Among them, I particularly enjoy character books with concise text and abundant images that complement each other, such as Van Gogh Brothers and Virginia Woolf. These books give a fresh impression in terms of structure, layout, and format. It was inspired by these books that I conceived the idea of editing a series of character biographies. Fortunately, my idea was warmly supported by my friends at Elephant Publishing House, which led to the creation of the "Elephant Figures in Focus Series." The reason I use "focus" instead of "biography" is that, strictly speaking, I do not write about each character in a completely biographical manner. Instead, I take a person's life as the background to scan and explore certain fragments that I am particularly interested in and that highlight their character and destiny. Several years ago, in the "Cicadas in the Clouds Series," I adopted this approach. If such text is combined with historical photographs and images in an appropriate way, it might have the characteristics of a visual biography. Therefore, in addition to the main text, I have deliberately selected the subject's self-narratives and others' comments, and the captions for the images are designed to break from conventional patterns, making them more lively and meaningful. I hope that this arrangement will allow a person's life to be presented in multiple layers, from various perspectives, and vividly. Of course, this is just a wish, an attempt. Any form of focus is meant to highlight the living conditions of different individuals in historical scenes. Examining them is, in essence, examining intellectuals in reality. This is why I am so enthusiastic about describing historical figures. Now, I am even happier to have a new style that combines text and images.