Flowers of Literature Series - Ancient Part: Selected Prose of Liu Zongyuan

Author: (Tang) Liu Zongyuan, selected and annotated by Yang Huiwen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Ancient Chinese prose has a long and profound history, with deep roots and lush branches. Like poetry, it is one of the most important and distinctive literary forms in ancient Chinese literature, as well as a splendid and magnificent cultural treasure in the history of human civilization. To promote the fine culture of the Chinese nation, inherit the excellent traditions of ancient prose, and foster the prosperity and improvement of contemporary prose creation, while providing reference and enjoyment for readers, this series of "Ancient Chinese Prose" is compiled as a part of the "Hua Bai Prose Series." The scope of prose has evolved over time, differing between ancient and modern periods. The selected works in this series primarily focus on lyrical and narrative prose, which are more literary in nature. The selected authors range from the pre-Qin period to the Qing Dynasty, with each author's works compiled into separate volumes. The arrangement of essays in each book follows the chronological order of their composition, allowing readers to understand the development and evolution of prose creation.
Each book in the series consists of two parts: one is an essay, which includes brief introductions to the author's life and literary activities, with a focus on analyzing and commenting on their prose creation philosophy, particularly artistic characteristics, the development of prose creation, and its influence. The other part is the prose selections, each accompanied by a preface and annotations. The essay part is designed to complement and enhance the prose selections, helping readers achieve a rational understanding of the selected prose through the essays, while the selected prose deepens readers' intuitive understanding of the essays. This mutual reinforcement makes the series not only a collection of excellent prose for reading but also, to some extent, a study of the author's works and even a history of ancient prose, distinct from general prose anthologies and traditional histories of ancient prose, with its unique features.
The selected prose in each book includes representative and outstanding works of the authors, as well as prose from different periods, themes, and styles to reflect the development of the author's prose creation. The preface explains relevant words, specialized terms, writing time, sources, and versions in the titles of the essays, as well as providing concise comments on the background, ideological value, artistic characteristics, and artistic techniques of the works. The annotations primarily focus on clarifying difficult characters, words, allusions, official titles, artifacts, names, and geographical locations. For important and uniquely used terms, references or examples are cited to help readers not only understand the "what" but also the "why."
Liu Zongyuan's prose is concise and vivid. He often employs a combination of concrete and abstract elements and interweaves narration with commentary to structure his works, making them full of charm. Additionally, Liu's prose frequently uses short sentences, creating a clear and dynamic rhythm, which is a result of his absorption of the strengths of parallel prose.