Collection of Peng Yulin (Complete 3 Volumes)

Author: Peng Yulin (Qing Dynasty), compiled by Liang Shaohui et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-08-01
Features: This is the re-publication of Peng Yulin's collected works after more than 100 years. The book is divided into three volumes: the first volume contains memorial essays, the second volume includes poems, couplets, letters, etc., and the third volume is an appendix, which collects the Tongzhi-era Hengyang County Gazetteer and Record of Mourning and Honor, among others. The font size is not small, but it comes with a magnifying glass and is packaged in a large box, giving it a "luxurious" appearance—though it is somewhat excessive. The editing of this book is truly questionable. In fact, the main content of the entire book is the Memorial Essays of Peng Gangzhi and Poetry of Peng Gangzhi, edited by Yu Yue. However, the prefaces and postfaces of the original book are not included in this collection either, which is found in the appendix. The Hengyang County Gazetteer in the appendix was included merely to fill space and is incomplete—the original illustrations and other content have been removed. What is commendable is that the compilers collected Peng Yulin's letters and plum blossom paintings from the Hunan Library, Museum, Shanghai Museum, and other institutions, many of which were published for the first time. Legend has it that Peng Yulin painted over 10,000 plum blossoms, with his works scattered across the world, but the compilers only managed to gather over 20 pieces. It seems there is still much work to be done to collect more.