Wisdom's Gate -- Whispered Sorrows

Author: [Ming] Lü Kun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Moans of the Heart is a rare guide to self-cultivation, family management, governing a state, and peace in the world across ancient and modern times. The Moans of the Heart was first circulated in manuscript form within a certain range after its completion. The printing began in the 21st year of the Wanli era (1593). Qing dynasty bookstores continuously printed it due to reader demand. Today, easily found editions include the Ming dynasty Excerpts from the Moans of the Heart (two volumes), the Zhengding edition by Lu Longqi in the 26th year of the Kangxi era (1687), the Selected Works of Lüzi by Chen Hongmu in the first year of the Qianlong era (1736), the Lu Yanzhao edition in the 59th year of the Qianlong era (1794), the Collected Works of Lüzi edited and printed by Li Yuemei and others in the 7th year of the Daoguang era (1827), and the Chengde Hall edition in the 20th year of the Daoguang era (1480). This book is based on the Daoguang 7th-year edition, as the compiler had already done "comparing and supplementing various school editions" when it was printed. For accuracy, the annotations of this book also use the Ming dynasty and Qianlong dynasty editions as reference texts to compare and correct errors. The Moans of the Heart is divided into six volumes, consisting of two parts: Inner and Outer. As it is a personal notebook spanning thirty years, it was not written all at once, and many contents of the Outer part inevitably overlap with the Inner part. Objectively speaking, the most brilliant parts are in the Inner part.