Writing a preface, in my opinion, is a reward between literati, if it is not a particularly good relationship, or if you really feel that the writing is considerable, it is inevitable to be embarrassed and tired to write.
With my loose nature, when I encounter an invitation to write a preface, I have always been insensitive to thanks. Hou Yinguo's book is an exception. Over the past few years, I have read many of his articles, including cultural columns written in newspapers, papers examining the flow of Buddhism, and poems he wrote in the circle of friends. As a writer who wrote classical poetry to appreciate the debut, I actually don't look at the ancient poetry of today's people, probably because the taste has been cultivated, and I can't stand the pretentious pile. His poems are unexpectedly good, with ancient meanings and warm and open inside. It is believed that he has blossomed his literary brilliance in his handwritten poems, and that the articles have become the places where the tao is carried.
Hou Yinguo may not know that his greatest charm comes from contrasting cuteness. Just looking at the article will think that he is a well-educated old gentleman, see the Buddha-figure is soft and cute, so there will be surprises, he does not have the arrogance of the literati, the lonely height of the scholar, is a good at communication, very good at answering questions, and has a warm temperament, and is warm
In addition to my habitual urging him to write poems, I often urge him to write on behalf of him (the editors who have made an appointment with him should remember to send me a pennant. ）
Of course, my eagerness has a cause and has been around for a long time. Last year, I wrote about the solar terms, and the previous year I wrote about the construction, and I asked him to find information for me. He is really a treasure boy with a long endurance, a need to respond, and a question.
With a grateful heart, this preface is something I want to write on my own initiative. As a responsible person, I have read the articles in the book before the official publication, and I still find it rich and interesting to read again, and I have benefited a lot, and it is worth recommending to everyone.
Ancient folk culture, life details and other books and articles, is the habit of reading often. I was more impressed by Zhao Yan's "Old Time Customs" and Yi Yongwen's "Notes on Ancient China", and Hou Yinguo's article also made me have the same interest.
In fact, Mo said that readers, even those of us who have been engaged in writing work for many years, for some cultural customs, details and common sense, are also accustomed to taking meanings out of context, knowing that they do not know why. For example, moon cakes, when many articles mention the Mid-Autumn Festival culture, like to quote the famous sentence of the Dongpo residents "small cakes are like chewing the moon, there are crisps and birds" to prove that the Northern Song Dynasty had the custom of eating mooncakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. In fact, the noodles officially named "mooncake" did not appear until the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition to not looking like today's mooncake, the method is also different, it is steamed, more like a bun, belongs to the daily pasta.
From mooncakes to crabs, from star chasing to the epidemic, from jade rabbits to Nezha, these articles were originally published in the newspaper column, they must keep up with current events, there is no shortage of hot topics, it is easy to take materials, the difficulty of writing is up, to be popular without kitsch, profound and not stereotypical, funny and not showy, it is very rare.
What is rare is that Hou Yinguo did it.
I can say that there are a lot of hot spots in the article - cold knowledge. He quoted the scriptures, and he grasped them with his hands and made them understand.
When I finished reading this book, I was both satisfied and sad. On the one hand, I have obtained the necessary supplies from various brief histories, and on the other hand, I have no regrets that you say that this knowledge is important? It doesn't seem that important. Because it does not affect our judgment of good and evil and our perception of things. To put it more pessimistically, in the process of cultural circulation, there are countless examples of false rumors, and sometimes It is Li Ghost who is better than Li Kui. But it is clear and important, and after reaching the level of knowing, we need to understand
When it comes to the thirst for knowledge and respect for scholars, we are far from what we used to be in the past. This is not the best of times, nor the worst of times, we are just used to mediocrity, delusional to work less and get more. Shallowness is not a problem, laziness is not a problem, joy with shallowness is a problem, and pride in laziness is a problem. When people can't sink their hearts to think, can't trace back to the source, and spontaneously practice, it is doomed to be difficult to have a deep foundation, a solid belief, is the people's hearts are impetuous, do not lightly blame the times and the environment.
Although this book is written in some small details of ancient life, I do not think it is trivial, on the contrary, they are deeply rooted, and it is difficult for people to see the mysteries and drink through the original face.
Life is the bearer of culture, culture is the root of life, the two such as flowers shining on water, such as water reflecting the moon, can be attributed to the Chinese culture itself in the mountains and rivers of exotic, wind and moon on the same day.
"Wind and moon with the same day" is a Buddhist verse, its Hong is about deep beauty, it is difficult to say, to do ancient cultural life, the title of the book popularized by historical knowledge is appropriate, see these four words, it is as if standing on the shore of time, watching the moon hidden stars sink, the water floating.
The personnel is no longer the same, and the situation is always new, what we have to do is to "borrow the flowers and branches to divide the color, and dye and the empty mountain a wisp of spring."