"Thick Black School"

Author: Li Zongwu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-09-01
Features: For the first time, the complete manuscript of "The Thick Black School" as the treasure of the Taipei Library is used as the basis for this publication. Truly grasp the essence of Li Zongwu's original "The Thick Black School" from the words. Mr. Xu Zhuoyun, a famous historian in Taiwan, personally wrote the preface for this book. This publication also includes prefaces written by Lin Yutang, Baoyang, and Nan Huaijin for this book. "Among the books of all dynasties at home and abroad, not having read Li Zongwu's 'The Thick Black School' is indeed a regret in life!" — Lin Yutang "The excellence of this book lies in telling the Chinese people that a genius of the world, in the face of the declining world situation, carries a heavy sense of grief and suffering in his heart." — Baoyang "The morality of the Thick Black Master is not at all thick or black; on the contrary, it is very sincere and upright." — Nan Huaijin "Our Li family's four eccentric geniuses — Laozi (Lǐ Yǐ), Li Zhuozhu, Li Zongwu, and Li Ao." — Li Ao
In the first year of the Republic of China, I wrote an article titled "The Thick Black School." After that, I wrote some more articles. In the sixteenth year, I compiled them into a volume titled "Zongwu's Random Talks," including an article titled "My Views on Solving Social Problems." In the seventeenth year, I expanded it into a separate volume titled "Discussion on Social Problems." In recent years, I have had some new reflections and have taken the writings I had written over the years, scattered them, and combined them with my new reflections, writing them in a style, titled "Random Talks on the Thick Black School." Since August 1, 1924, I have been writing one or two paragraphs every day and publishing them in Chengdu's "Huaxi Daily." I organized them into volumes of about 20,000 words each, printing a separate volume every two volumes. Now, I have completed six volumes. I originally wrote these articles out of leisure and for entertainment. I had no fixed plan on how long to write or when to stop. If I felt happy, I would write for a long time; if not, I could stop at any time. However, the writing was too scattered, and readers might get bored. Most people liked to hear me talk about the Thick Black School, so I slightly revised the single-volume edition of "The Thick Black School" published in Beijing in 1923 and reprinted it for everyone to read. Many people persuaded me to reprint "Zongwu's Random Talks" and "Discussion on Social Problems." I felt that there were many places in these two books that needed to be supplemented, and it would be troublesome to revise them one by one. Therefore, I wrote them down at will in the Random Talks, so that readers who only read the Random Talks would not need to read the other two books, as the content and points that should be supplemented in the other two books have already been integrated into the Random Talks.
In the sixteenth year, when "Zongwu's Random Talks" was published, Mr. Chengbo and Mr. Yancang wrote prefaces for it. In the seventeenth year, when "Discussion on Social Problems" was published, Mr. Yujiang, Mr. Hedehui, Mr. Yaoqinru, and Mr. Yangzaiyun all wrote prefaces for it. They were all listed at the beginning of the volume, as a brief introduction to "Random Talks on the Thick Black School," so that readers could understand the general content of the Random Talks. If they were too busy, they would not need to read the Random Talks. I have already checked two copies of "Zongwu's Random Talks" and "Discussion on Social Problems" and stored them in the Sichuan Library. I also remembered that there were still several copies in my home, so I took them and mailed them to Nanjing, Beijing, and other libraries for storage, so that the "Random Talks on the Thick Black School" I am writing now still belong to the same thoughts as in the past.
This book includes all of Mr. Li Zongwu's classic articles on "The Thick Black School," allowing people not only to understand the essence of "The Thick Black School" but also to see Mr. Li Zongwu's profound and insightful discussions on social and political issues using the theory he founded.