Collected Works of Lord Wang Wenduan

王家屏Jun 2024

Rating 3.4

Word count: 152K words
Chapters: 18

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is marked by a high degree of originality, inventiveness, and literary quality. Early forms of thought have distinctive features, and such fields as religious theology, classical texts of Chinese medicine, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and customs and local gazetteers are vast and profound.

This series, "Essential Original Texts of Classic Chinese Culture," preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate their temperament and subtly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

The Collected Works of Wang Wenduan gong contains the poems, prose, and memorials of Wang Jiaping, a high official of the Ming dynasty, and is a primary source for understanding late Ming political life, the spirit of the scholar-official class, and the style of their writings. The language is dignified and substantive; the memorials reveal his upright conduct in office and his willingness to speak frankly and remonstrate, while the poems and prose mostly express aspirations, record social exchanges, and reflect the daily emotions and values of traditional scholars. This edition belongs to the "Essential Original Texts of Classic Chinese Culture" series, preserves the original appearance of the book, focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional thought and culture, and is suitable as a basic reader for studying Ming dynasty literary collections. Such collections should not be read for the pleasures of modern prose; rather, one should consider Ming institutions, factional strife, and intellectual background to appreciate the political circumstances and moral concerns behind the language. For readers who wish to enter the world of late Ming scholars through primary texts, this book offers a relatively reliable entry point, and it can also serve as supplementary reading for university courses in classical literature and history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature and history specialists studying Ming political history and scholar-official culture
Students in university courses on classical literature and history who need to read primary texts
Chinese studies enthusiasts interested in late Ming memorials, poetry, and prose
Readers who wish to understand the spirit of traditional scholars through primary sources

Not a good fit for

General leisure readers who prefer light stories and modern novels
Beginners lacking a foundation in classical Chinese who need vernacular translations and annotations
Readers concerned only with contemporary issues and uninterested in ancient literary collections

Reading tips

Read the memorials first, using Ming political background to understand his remonstrating stance and the measure of his language.
Select poems and prose on social exchange and personal expression for close reading, to appreciate scholars' emotional expression and use of allusion.
Record offices, names, and events as you read, and use reference works to sort out the relevant historical context.
Read alongside literary collections by Ming contemporaries to compare how different scholar-officials wrote in similar circumstances.

版权信息
王文端公尺牍叙言
王文端公尺牍卷之一
王文端公尺牍卷之二
王文端公尺牍卷之三
王文端公尺牍卷之四
王文端公尺牍卷之五
王文端公尺牍卷之六
王文端公尺牍卷之七
王文端公尺牍卷之八
王文端公奏疏序
王文端公奏疏卷之一
王文端公奏疏卷之二
王文端公奏疏卷之三
王文端公奏疏卷之王
王文端公诗集序
王文端公诗集卷上
王文端公诗集卷下

FAQ

Can I read this book without a foundation in classical Chinese?

This book preserves the original appearance of the text and is written in fairly advanced classical Chinese; readers without a foundation will encounter obstacles. It is advisable first to acquire basic classical Chinese reading ability, or to use reference works and relevant historical materials to assist understanding, before gradually entering the text.

Is this book suitable for learning about Ming history?

It can be used as supplementary material. The memorials, poems, and prose in the collection involve the author's political environment and network of associates and can provide a primary perspective, but it should not be used as a systematic history; it is best read in comparison with works of Ming history.

What are the features of the "original appearance" edition?

This series emphasizes preserving the original appearance of the book and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional thought and culture, with relatively little modernization. Readers can engage more directly with the primary text, but they must also take on some of the work of understanding and verification themselves.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

王家屏 Author

Wang Jiaping was an official and scholar of the Ming dynasty. Specific details of his life, including his native place, are limited in publicly available sources, and the library currently holds only one work by him, The Collected Works of Lord Wengduan (Wenwengong Ji). Judging from the title and its common classification, the book falls under social sciences, and its contents broadly concern the political essays, memorials, and poetry of a traditional scholar-official, reflecting the literary output of a Ming civil official. Because verifiable material is insufficient, this note avoids dwelling on his career, teachers, or scholarly lineage; readers who wish to know the man and his writing may begin directly with this collection and observe his style of argument and the concerns of his age. The work is an important textual basis for studying Wang Jiaping and the writing of Ming scholar-officials, and it offers primary material for understanding the social, political, and intellectual culture of the period, making its documentary value worthy of attention.