Love Mei Notes

Author: Xu Zhimo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: The Love Notes to Mei has attracted attention because it is a sincere declaration of love between Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman. In his brief yet romantic life of thirty-six years, Xu Zhimo had emotional entanglements with three women—Zhang Youyi, Lin Huiyin, and Lu Xiaoman. Among them, what is pure and moving is his love story after his divorce from Zhang Youyi and his breakup with Lin Huiyin, when he met Lu Xiaoman and quickly fell deeply in love with her. Their love was passionate, intense, shocking to the hypocritical, and admirable to those who came later. All of this is clearly revealed in The Love Notes to Mei, allowing readers to experience the vivid souls of love between Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman in the most authentic way. In 1936, a major event occurred in Shanghai literature. This was the fortieth anniversary of the birth and the fifth anniversary of the death of Xu Zhimo, the pioneer of modern Chinese poetry in the 20th century. To commemorate this, Lu Xiaoman, Xu Zhimo’s surviving wife, published The Love Notes to Mei, which she had compiled and edited. This brought their unforgettable and to the public, adding a masterpiece of genuine and beautiful prose to the history of 20th-century Chinese literature.
The term The Love Notes to Mei refers to a group of diaries and letters written by Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman in the 1920s, as they loved and committed to each other despite the pressure from their families and society. The Love Notes to Mei exists in two versions. One is the authentic handwritten edition, published in January 1936 by Shanghai Yangrou Book Company. It is a facsimile of Xu Zhimo’s handwritten diary titled The Love Notes to Mei, signed Xinshou, covering the period from August 9 to 31, 1925, and September 5 to 17, 1925. The other is the lead-typeset edition, published in March 1936 by Shanghai Yangrou Book Company. In addition to the aforementioned diary, it includes eleven letters from Xu Zhimo to Lu Xiaoman from March 3 to May 27, 1925, and Lu Xiaoman’s Diary of Xiaoman from March 11 to July 11, 1925.
The authentic handwritten edition is printed on high-quality Lianshi paper in black and blue, bound with silk thread, exquisitely beautiful, limited to 100 copies, and extremely rare. The lead-typeset edition is a small 32-page hardcover book, paired with a delicate dust jacket, equally elegant and charming.