Beijing Ancient Poems and Stories

Author: Qu Duzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: Qu Duzhi (1894-1973) was a native of Shanhua, Hunan (now Changsha City), a modern historian, litterateur, and painter. His courtesy name was Xuanying, and his style name was Zhuan'an. In his later years, he took the name Tuiyuan. Born into a prominent family, he was the youngest son of Qu Hongcai, a Qing Dynasty Grand Secretary of the Imperial Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his maternal grandmother was Zeng Jiufen, the "full sister" of Zeng Guofan, the esteemed Zongde Elder. In his early years, he studied at St. John's University and Fudan University in Shanghai. He served as the Secretary-General of the State Council, Director of the Translation Bureau, and Secretary-General of the Hebei Provincial Government under the Gu Weijun cabinet of the Beiyang Government. He also taught at institutions such as Nankai University and Yanjing University. After 1949, he resided in Shanghai for a long time, dedicating himself to writing.
Qu Duzhi was a highly learned scholar, deeply versed in literature and history, with profound expertise in fields such as officialdom and local gazetteers. He was particularly skilled in the study of historical anecdotes. Growing up in a family of officials and living in Beijing for a long period, he was intimately familiar with the customs, culture, street changes, and scenic landscapes of the capital over centuries. This book is a collection of his poems and essays inspired by his observations of Yanjing (Beijing), organized around poetry with accompanying prose, making it a work of equal literary and poetic merit. Among the numerous writings on Beijing's customs and culture, it stands out as a masterpiece.
Qu Duzhi was a prolific author, with other works including Discussions on Figures, Customs, and Institutions, An Introduction to Chinese Parallel Prose, Drafts on Local Gazetteers, Biography of Wang Huizong, Annotations on the Collected Works of Li Bai, Annotations on the Collected Works of Liu Yuxi, Notes from the Yanghe Studio, and Records from the Ganlu Studio, among others.
This book was compiled from articles originally published in magazines in the 1940s. In addition to adding modern punctuation and correcting obvious errors, the text remains largely unchanged to preserve its original form. If there are any imperfections in the writing, we trust the readers will discern and appreciate them.