【Hundred Dao Editor's Note】Ancient Chinese classics are valuable treasures in the mines of traditional Chinese culture, with the help of the ancestors' raw flowers and magic pens, we can travel through time and space, visit the real life scenes of the old places, and experience the life interests of the ancients. Published by Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, the series of books "The Prosperous World of the Ancients" selects the classic literati notes of five historical periods, and starts an immersive journey through the wonderful texts, following the ancients to look back at the mountains and rivers and the interesting fireworks. Recently, Yao Yiwen, the editor of the Baidao Network interview series, listened to her tell how this set of books with the theme of "the ancients take you to China" is how to open up another way from the perspective of the ancients, leading readers to swim in ancient cities, great rivers and mountains, and experience the unique customs and things in the world.
"The Prosperous Human World of the Ancients" series is responsible for editing Yao Yiwen
Product line development and add strength,
An all-round display of ancient social life
How to make the charm of traditional Chinese culture jump on the paper has become an important direction for major publishing houses to explore and deepen their cultivation. In this regard, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House has successively developed two series: "The Elegant Life of the Ancients" (10 volumes) and "The Fantasy World of the Ancients" (4 volumes). The "Prosperous Human World of the Ancients" series takes the social life of the ancients as the foothold and displays all aspects from ancient festivals, customs, play spots, mountain and river climate, urban style, and social anecdotes.
The Elegant Life of the Ancients (Set of 6 Volumes)
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: [Tang] Lu Yu [Ming] Ji Cheng, et al
Publication date: September 2018
The Fantasy World of the Ancients (Full Set of 4 Volumes)
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: [Qing] Yuan Ming, [Jin] Zhang Hua, Ge Hong, etc
Publication date: March 2020
The profundity of traditional Chinese culture is a steady stream of high-quality publishing resources, but on the other hand, it is also necessary to consider the ways and methods of modern interpretation in light of today's cultural environment and readers' interests. When the books on the market that focus on "ancient and modern linkage" emerge in an endless stream, how does Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House present the prosperous world of the ancients with ingenuity?
Yao Yiwen said that the "Ancients" series of products aims to expand the excavation of the breadth, breadth and depth of the ancient world. As a blockbuster new work in the "Ancients" series, the "Prosperous Human World of the Ancients" series is mainly based on the famous notes of ancient times, involving five historical periods of Han, Tang, Southern Song, Northern Song and Ming, including Chang'an, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Lin'an (now Hangzhou), the imperial palace of the Tang Dynasty and Jiangsu and Zhejiang of the Ming Dynasty. Readers can swim in the affectionate descriptions of the ancients, take a walk, see the scenic spots, mountains and rivers, and urban scenery of different periods; listen to and look at the customs and festivals, ceremonies, and social anecdotes of different periods, and feel the colorful social life of the ancients.
There are countless classic works of Chinese dynasties and dynasties, and the importance of selecting texts is self-evident. The series finally includes "Xijing Miscellaneous Records", "Kaiyuan Tianbao Testament", "Tokyo Dream Hualu", "Wulin Old Events", "Tao'an Dream Memories", what makes these five classics stand out, in the interview Yao Yiwen penetrated the criteria of text selection, which also condensed the concept of Excellence of Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House.
First of all, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House positions the series of books as representative texts of 5 different historical periods, through these literary works that are either cheerful, or documentary, or romantic and free, or full of nostalgia, readers can not only get a glimpse of the social landscape at that time, but also follow the author's brushstrokes.
Secondly, the texts included in the series are authoritative classic works, which are not only important historical documents for experts and scholars to study ancient social life, but also a true portrayal of the fashion, developed economy and urban life at that time. The authors of the series of books are not only writers, historians, translators, but also most of the content written is mainly based on the author's personal experience, and the relaxed and interesting writing shows a vivid and real silhouette of life, which also contains the author's infinite attachment to the past life experience.
The quality of the text has been polished several times,
Each of the five books has its own strengths and shows the prosperity of the world
The "Prosperous Human World of the Ancients" series of books has lasted nearly 3 years from the beginning of planning in 2019 to the completion of publication, and Yao Yiwen frankly said that the number of times the text has been polished during the period has been too many to remember. Since the original texts of the five books are all in Chinese, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House has compiled annotations and translations for each work in order to allow readers to better appreciate the rich cultural connotations in the book. To escort the quality of the text, not only are there translators with profound knowledge of ancient literature, but jiangxi fine arts publishing house also invites a number of experts to participate in the review work, from text translation errata, editing style adjustment to reasonable binding design, and making every effort to check the accuracy and authority of the book. Next, let us follow Yao Yiwen's introduction, enter the world of the book, and enjoy the prosperity of the world from multiple dimensions such as cities, society, customs, etiquette, mountains and rivers, scenic spots, folk sentiments, and anecdotes.
"Tokyo Dream" is a small book written by Meng Yuanlao, which shows the prosperous scenery of Kyoto during the northern Song Dynasty, vividly reflects the reality of social life in the Northern Song Dynasty, and depicts a picture of the life style of the people from the princes and nobles down to the people. Meng Yuanlao was a Northern Song Dynasty writer who lived in Bieliang for more than 20 years, and was forced to cross south after the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, often recalling the grand scenery of Kyoto, so he wrote this book. Readers can follow in the footsteps of Elder Meng, walk through the bustling streets, pass by busy restaurants, visit the Zhouqiao Night Market to taste food, watch many juggling on the street, and feel the life of the northern Song Dynasty citizens for a day.
The Prosperous World of the Ancients: Tokyo Dreams
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: Meng Yuanlao
Publication date: March 2022
"Tao'an Dream Memories" is Zhang Dai's representative work, which records Zhang Dai's memories of the past dynasties and extravagant life after entering the Qing Dynasty, and is a personal memoir. Zhang Dai is less than a gentleman, living in the areas of present-day Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, traveling to many places when he is young, and loves prosperity, and the affairs and talents recorded in the book have become the past, like a dream, and the eyes are empty. The daily trivia recorded in the book shows the world, the expression is a sense of human wrong, and the sigh of the rise and fall of the homeland is pinned on.
The Prosperous World of the Ancients: Tao'an Dream Memories
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: Zhang Dai
Publication date: March 2022
"The Past Affairs of Wulin" is a well-documented miscellaneous history, the content is derived from what he saw and heard, detailing the rich content of the imperial ceremony, the customs of mountains and rivers, the brokerage of the city, the four seasons, the church and the club, etc., which has a high historical value in literature, drama and art. Zhou Mi was a well-known literary scholar in the Song and Yuan dynasties, whose great-grandfather crossed south with the Song Dynasty and lived in Huzhou (now part of Zhejiang), where he lived in Hangzhou after the death of the Song Dynasty. Zhou's close friend Zhao Mengfu served as the governor of Jinan Road and returned to his hometown of Wuxing from Qizhou. The original Jinan-born Zhao Mengfu carefully heard Zhao Mengfu relay what he had seen when he was an official, and he felt nostalgic for his hometown. Zhao Mengfu made the famous "Quehua Autumn Color Map" in history, depicting the scenery of Jinan and giving it to him. Carefully embracing the pain of the remnants, he devoted himself to the literature of the homeland, so he compiled the old news of the family, so he created this book, readers can follow his memories and appreciate the nostalgic social scenery of the Southern Song Dynasty Lin'an Capital.
The Prosperous World of the Ancients: The Past of Wulin
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: Thorough
Publication date: March 2022
The "Miscellaneous Records of Xijing" was written by Liu Xin in the Han Dynasty, and most of the contents record the miscellaneous history and anecdotes of Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, as well as folk customs, garden palaces, rare treasures, astronomical geography, etc., especially in the period of many princes and generals, literati and scholars, most of which are strange. Readers can follow Liu Xin's brushstrokes to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Han Dynasty.
The Prosperous World of the Ancients: Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: Liu Xin
Publication date: March 2022
"Kaiyuan Tianbao Testament" is the work of Wang Renyu of the Fifth Dynasty, which records the strange events of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years of the Tang Dynasty, and the content is mostly about strange items, trivia inside the palace and folk customs outside the palace, and the deeds of the characters are mainly legends. Among them, festivals and customs such as Qixi and cold food in the Tang Dynasty Palace have certain social historical value. Many idioms and allusions used in later generations, such as "gushing endlessly", "dream pen raw flowers", "interpretation flowers", "feet and yangchun", etc. are from this book.
"The Prosperous World of the Ancients: The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao"
Publisher: Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
Author: Wang Renyu
Publication date: March 2022
The small paintings of the national style depict vividly in the human world,
Continue to deepen the modern interpretation of classics
If the series of books vividly presents the wind and human world of different dynasties in front of the reader, then the small paintings of the national style in the book are the actual scenes that turn the "human world" into intimate and perceptible real scenes. Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House believes that illustration is another way of telling words, and it has made many efforts to complement each other.
Yao Yiwen introduced that the illustration team of the series of books is composed of professional illustrators graduated from major art colleges in the country, and has many years of experience in illustration. The illustrations are first drawn with reference text, and secondly, the illustrators also go through a large number of materials. For example, a large number of hand-drawn maps in "Tokyo Dream" were drawn by the illustrator based on the content of the text and with reference to relevant materials about the capital city during the Northern Song Dynasty. During the period of publication and editing, the illustrations are also revised several times, and the illustrations are still being changed before printing in the factory, and strive to achieve a perfect combination of illustrations and words, so that readers can intuitively understand the scenes that the text wants to express when they see the illustrations.
In terms of graphic typesetting, the original series of books is fully vertically typeset, one is more in line with the reading sense of ancient books, so that readers are more immersive, and the other is more beautiful from the overall design. However, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House also listened to the real feedback from channel providers and readers, and all of them believed that vertical typography was not very convenient to read, and after several struggles, it was finally decided not to follow the vertical typography that the "ancients" product line had always retained, but to read comfortably for readers and change to horizontal layout.
Talking about the cover design that bears the burden of leaving a first impression on readers, Yao Yiwen said that after experiencing more than a dozen times of torture, the cover finally chose a more lively color, which not only reflects the feeling of the book content through color, but also makes the overall design more vivid. Through the collision of color and a large number of illustration pictures, the series of books goes to the sense of "ancient books", on the basis of increasing the interest, without losing the literary texture, and at the same time making the ancient books closer to the public, suitable for contemporary readers to read.
In order to best show the beauty of illustration, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House uses art special paper when printing, which can not only show the picture well, but also has a bookish atmosphere, and the reading feel is also very comfortable. Although the price of this kind of paper is expensive, in order to ensure that the texture and quality of the book are in hand, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House still spares no expense, and chooses to use all this art special paper from the book itself when the cost of the book allows.
Yao Yiwen said that the "Ancients" series, as a series of books that reshape ancient classic works, introduces the essence of traditional Chinese culture to public readers, which is the planning purpose of the series. The beautiful vision at the beginning of the publication is to make these contents, which were also popular books in ancient times, not only familiar to readers with ancient Chinese literature skills, but also break the stereotype of ancient traditional works by public readers and narrow the distance between modern readers and ancient classics.
Introducing ancient classic works to the majority of readers in a more modern and more public way is the insistence of Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House in inheriting china's excellent traditional culture. The "Biographies of the Ancients" series, which is in full swing, is expected to be published in the second half of this year. In the future, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House will continue to extend the variety of the "Ancients" series of books, discover more ancient books suitable for the public to read, and do a good job in matching pictures and texts, so that China's excellent traditional culture will glow with sustained and strong vitality.
Author: Wang Ran
Edit: Daozhi
Final: Ling Jia