W (Legendary Modern China)

Author: Gao Fei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Gao Fei's writings, in terms of style, are called essays, notes, or "scholarly prose," "cultural prose"—whether it's called that or not doesn't matter. What matters is the "clarity" and "subtlety" behind these unremarkable words. It's not "scholarly categorization" or "philosophical debate," nor is it modern "literature" focused on emotion or narrative. It's a personal perspective on the rise and fall of a century's cultural trends. His youthful maturity and composed demeanor give him an extraordinary style. —Literary critic Meng Hua
The origin of this book is Gao Fei's column in The Southern Weekly. It was already enjoyable to read, and now collected into a book, it becomes spectacular. Gao Fei speaks in a storytelling tone, detailing—painfully yet vividly—the wild history of the late Qing and early Republican era, with both seriousness and authenticity. The characters he writes about, apart from a few uncouth figures like Yuan Shikai, are mostly cultured individuals—officials, journalists, and writers. He tells of their "strange" deeds, making readers laugh and sigh: "Who knew there were so many twists and turns!" Especially in the chapter "A Family of Journalists," it's surprisingly fresh for non-journalists to read about the "old" stories. —The Southern Weekly, Xia Chen
The book primarily draws from wild history—though there are overlaps with official history. The advantages of wild history don't need me to explain; everyone knows them. It allows for hearsay, uncovering hidden truths, focusing on minor details, disregarding grand principles, being emotionally invested, or writing without restraint. In short, what official historians dare not do, wild historians boldly do. In many chapters, he writes freely, only daring to call it "tales of the common people," not daring to claim "a verdict beyond the grave," or else he'd likely get into many disputes over words. Fortunately, the events he writes about are well-documented. Even if some are baseless rumors, he bears no responsibility for spreading them, only for passing them on with a touch of irony. As for calling this book the "wild Records of the Grand Historian," how could a mere mortal be so bold! The Records of the Grand Historian is not only the pinnacle of official history but also the origin of wild history. Later generations' wild histories are merely even "wilder" Records of the Grand Historian. Moreover, "what matters is not the age when myths were told, but the age when myths were told." Legends may have truth or falsehood, but the mindset of the storytellers and their audience reflects a strange kind of truth.
Readers, why not take a look at this book and reflect after closing it: Which chapters did I write with joy, and which did you read with pleasure?