Breathing Ink Traces

陈立新Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaNov 2021

Rating 3.0
Word count
189K words
Chapters
77
ISBN
9787539661902

Tags

Essays and Miscellany Rural SentimentsSerene SinceritySlow ReadingSelected EssaysElegant SimplicityLife EssaysBookish AtmosphereScholar's Taste

Summary

This book is a selection of essays by the Anhui writer Su Bei, gathering more than 70 of his representative pieces from recent years, including "Shakespeare, the Old Man Next Door," "Jia Baoyu's Willfulness," and "The Breath of Ink." The subjects are wide-ranging—depicting the countryside, conversing on friendship, savoring life—and the prose is plain and elegant with a lofty imaginative reach; deeply informed by the true tradition of Wang Zengqi's essays, it has a tranquil, forthright style all its own.

Editor's review

The Breath of Ink is a collection of recent essays by the writer Chen Lixin, published by Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House. It is not an essay collection in the traditional sense but rather a deep meditation on memory, time, and writing. With delicate and restrained strokes, Chen Lixin interweaves personal lived experience with reflection on cultural tradition, creating a distinctive sense of textual breathing.

From a professional editorial perspective, the book's most notable qualities are its "slowness" and its "depth." The author does not seek sweeping narrative but concentrates on capturing the details of daily life most easily overlooked—an old ink stick, half a page of a damaged manuscript, the sound of rain outside the window, the silhouette of a father leafing through a dictionary... These seemingly scattered fragments are invested by the author with the weight of time and gather into a quiet, abundant river of consciousness. Through the writing flows a faint melancholy over the gradual disappearance of traditional writing culture, yet it is not nostalgic sentimentality but an attempt, in a contemporary context, to seek the most primal connection between writing and life itself.

Its reading value lies in the textual possibility it offers as a counter to the restlessness of the information age. Readers need to slow their pace and "breathe" along with the author's pen to appreciate the lingering emotion and thought behind the ink. This is not a book that provides answers but one that provokes questions: How do we anchor fleeting existence in words? How do the small traces of an individual leave their mark on grand history? The book's literary quality is embodied in its highly self-aware language—concise, precise, richly textured—a steady practice in modern Chinese prose writing.

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Reading tips

  1. Read in segments in a quiet setting, focusing on one or two pieces at a time and giving the words room to settle.
  2. As you read, note how the author links concrete objects (ink, paper, characters) with the abstract themes of time and memory.
  3. You might treat the act of reading itself as a breathing exercise, keeping time with the text's rhythm.

About the publisher

Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1984

Founded in 1984, Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House is a professional literary and art publisher. Its collection of 389 titles spans classic works, essays and miscellaneous writings, Eastern philosophy, folk literature, classical literature and design. Representative books include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Laozi's Dao De Jing, Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the Shakespeare drama collection featuring Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello, with Zhu Shenghao's translations adding luster to the series. Its author resources range from classic Chinese and foreign writers such as Lao She, Laozi, Luo Guanzhong and William Shakespeare to translators and authors including Zhu Shenghao, Li Chensen and Liang Sicheng. The publisher is characterized by its balance of Chinese and foreign literary classics with traditional culture titles, combining scholarly value with popular reading. Public information is limited, and the above is based mainly on the books in the collection.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 自序
  3. 辑一
  4. 童年 眼镜 下午茶
  5. 家事八题
  6. 一个父亲和一个孩子的夜晚
  7. 一个父亲和一个孩子的一天
  8. 辑二
  9. 居京小记
  10. 一个院子
  11. 徽州纪行
  12. 在旧县镇的一顿午餐
  13. 燕子河大峡谷断章
  14. 三峡一到
  15. 中秋随感
  16. 温暖而寂寞的旅程
  17. 船老大王道祥
  18. 到袁姐家去
  19. 鱼不言，茶不语
  20. 丁亥年八月初五，东石笋路边的一些草花
  21. 山西，山西
  22. 北京的磁性
  23. 访问地坛
  24. 居京记趣
  25. 崇尚自然或者虚惊一场
  26. 雨中游琅琊记
  27. 窗外的香港
  28. 到玉树
  29. 闲品普洱
  30. 山果
  31. 辑三
  32. “车子想回家呀！”
  33. 曙光路的回忆
  34. 一场牌局
  35. 外婆
  36. 岳父
  37. 父亲买了一块墓地
  38. 房子琐议
  39. 私房话
  40. 豆豆
  41. 辑四
  42. 莎士比亚，我们隔壁的老头
  43. 张迷和汪迷
  44. “忙这颗小小的心灵呗！”
  45. 贾宝玉的任性
  46. 去找一本书——笔记一种
  47. 闲读《儒林外史》
  48. 青春的投射
  49. 那一头青丝属于谁？
  50. 《书犹如此》小序
  51. 考王蒙
  52. 扎辫子的王安忆
  53. 阅读何立伟
  54. 徐星片断
  55. 王奎山先生的两封信
  56. 门多萨、舒晋瑜及本人
  57. 书生南宋
  58. 刀背的力量
  59. 辑五
  60. 有关文学批评的断想
  61. 阅读使我安静了下来
  62. “喜欢汪曾祺， 把《晚饭花集》 手抄一遍”
  63. 旧书店老板和他的书
  64. “打开多扇滑动的门”
  65. 猜谜
  66. 好书相伴
  67. 闲读琐记
  68. 偶得之书
  69. 二流的《兄弟》
  70. 《色·戒》一个壳
  71. 《像鱼一样游弋的文字》 自序
  72. 《蚁民》后记
  73. 语言的衣裳
  74. 《植点青绿在心田》自序
  75. 速写吕士民
  76. 附录：
  77. 苏北：脚步不要停下， 笔不要放下

FAQ

What is the theme of this book? Is it nostalgic? Its core theme is the essential relationship between the act of writing and the memory of life and the passage of time. It involves nostalgic feeling but leans more toward reflection—the meaning of traditional forms of writing in the digital age, and how individuals confirm their own existence through traces of words.
What is the author Chen Lixin's creative background? Chen Lixin is a contemporary essayist whose writing is known for its quiet, profound, and philosophical quality. His work has long attended to the transformation of traditional cultural symbols in modern life and to the aesthetic distillation of individual experience. The Breath of Ink continues and deepens this path.
Is this book difficult to read? The language itself is clear and concise, with nothing obscure. But because of its high density of thought and slow pace, it asks readers for a certain patience and concentration, and a willingness to read closely and savor repeatedly, in order to fully appreciate its merits.

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About the author

陈立新 Author

Chen Lixin: available public information about this author is limited, and his profile emerges mainly from the two works held in the collection. Judging from Hengshan Xin Yun, Volume 8 and Traces of Breath, his writing spans modern poetry and prose miscellany, and the two genres echo each other to some extent: on the one hand he captures everyday experience and regional scenery in poetic form, and on the other he explores the details of life and inner feeling through prose essays. The title Hengshan Xin Yun, Volume 8 suggests a series, indicating that his poetry may belong to an ongoing collection or a regional writing tradition; the very title Traces of Breath hints at a concern with the relationship between writing and the breath of life. Overall, Chen Lixin's work moves between poetry and prose, seeking a plain language that still carries resonance. No systematic biographical account is available, and further material is needed to assess the scale and influence of his writings.