Dai Xinwei: A few good books I read in 2023

Xu Dunren's Diary, edited by Zhang Jian, Phoenix Publishing House, September 2021

Sui Yu read the late Qing Dynasty scholar Wu Yun to Jin Anqing (Zi Meisheng) letter two letters, involving the movements of officials and scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang at that time, "Jiang Lian visited the Sichuan Domain" Yunyun, or refers to Jiang Zhizhang, a native of Leadshan, Jiangxi, is the great-grandson of the famous poet Jiang Shiquan, who was promoted from Zhejiang to Sichuan in the sixth year of Tongzhi. I thought of him because of the "Xu Dunren Diary" I read in 2023, Xu is Jiang Zhizhang's staff, and he entered Sichuan, and the diary recorded what he saw and heard in Sichuan, and finally Shaanxi (Jiang Zhizhang died in the governor of Shaanxi), and the arranger, Mr. Zhang Jian, introduced this book with "The Elegant Life of a Late Qing Dynasty Scholar". Xu Dunren's fame was only shown, and in the same year, there were Hong Jun, Wang Mingluan, Hong Jun champion and the first news, he also solemnly wrote down. However, in his diary, it is rare to see the characteristics of the staff who circled between the feudal officials after the middle of the Qing Dynasty: up and down traffic, big discussions, many hobbies, and diligent reading. Xu's poems, which record traveling to the famous Huanhua River in Chengdu with colleagues, the writing is fresh. An interesting detail, Xu bought a lot of tablets to copy, but the purpose was to write good characters - to do a good job of calligraphy. This diary may be regarded as a true portrayal of the group of masters who had no room for upward movement in the late Qing Dynasty, and it is also a record of the lives of less famous literati and artists in history. Phoenix Publishing House's "Modern and Modern Rare Historical Materials Series" series includes the diaries and letters of famous writers, but there are also many ordinary people like Xu Dunren, who are famous and unknown, so that they can experience the integrity of history. This is probably the reason why this series of books is becoming more and more valued by readers.

"Pan Zuyin's Diary", edited by Pan Jia and Pan Yuda, Zhonghua Book Company, February 2023

This edition includes more diaries than the ancient edition, and compared with the doubts in the ancient edition, this edition is basically correct, but unfortunately there is no index in both editions. This edition has an advantage, that is, it collects Pan Zuyin's early diary (with Weng Tongyi), which records very diligently, pays a lot of singing, and is quite beautiful. In the later stage, it is almost the work log of Master Pan, not to mention discussions, even the superfluous words are gone. It can be seen that he is cautious as an official. This is the biggest difference between Pan Zuyin's diary and the diary of Weng Tongyi and others. However, because of his long-term work in the center, although brief, it also gives people a place for research and imagination. There are many details, just to name two examples. Pan Zuyin has the title of the book, and he is an important minister, one is for the emperor and Cixi, writing, inscriptions, etc., a large number, but he has no taboos, and he has written it down openly (each reward has also been recorded), perhaps this is also a certificate of royal trust. The second is to write correctly and write fans, each time there are more than dozens of pieces, which shows that Pan Zuyin's writing quality can maintain a certain level (it seems that it can also be extrapolated to people who had book titles in the past). I remember a friend who was puzzled by the mistakes (not necessarily typos) of contemporary calligraphers: they couldn't rewrite one? Reading Pan Zuyin's diary is indeed even more puzzling.

The Biography of Johnson, by James Boswell, translated by Pu Long, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, April 2023

Few people don't like Dr. Johnson and Boswell's "Dr. Johnson as I know it", right? Many years ago, I read Edward Newton's "The Joy of Gathering Books", in which "A Word is Unforgettable" and "James Boswell and His Books", two articles are witty and touching, but unfortunately they have always been selected translations. Mr. Bulong's complete translation is more than 1,600 pages long, took ten years of painstaking work, and is beautifully crafted with more than 100 illustrations. As Dr. Johnson's personal associate, secretary, and disciple, Boswell's records are well heard and superior to other biographies—and we can believe the reasons for his criticisms of the biographies of Johnson written by his contemporaries. The texts he uses are varied and original, telling us a lot of stories, punchlines, and jokes about the doctors, and it is these interests that are probably lost in the "normalization" of later generations. By the way, Mr. Bullon's preface and superfluous preface are very moving, and his first translation, Humboldt's Gift (Saul Bellow's novel), was a memorable reading in the early years.

"The Austen Problem: Thoughts on the Square Inch of Ivory", by Huang Mei, Joint Publishing Co., Ltd., September 2023

Because I like to read Jane Austen, I have saved up a collection of biographies and reviews about her in recent years. Ms. Huang Mei is looking forward to this collection of monographs, and her book "Examining the Self: Fiction in 18th-Century England" has inspired me a lot. This "Austen Question" mainly "scrutinizes" Austen's six novels, and raises many questions with rare deep thought. For example, she has a deep understanding of the character analysis of Annie, the protagonist of "Persuasion", and has a deep understanding of her swings, negative things generated in long waits and disappointments, and these problems are often ignored as the story jumps. This is a great book to keep an eye on for Austin fans.

Dai Xinwei

Editor-in-charge: Liu Xiaolei