Unwilling to Part

Name: Unwilling to Part
ISBN: 9787530690994

李汉荣Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaJul 2026

3.8

Word count: 127K words
Chapters: 126
ISBN: 9787530690994

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Summary

With delicate strokes, *Unwilling to Let Go* is an essay collection that builds a nostalgic world full of poetry and philosophical reflection. Divided into eight sections, from “Collecting Time” to “On Faith,” the author weaves a spiritual map across time and space through everyday objects, natural imagery, historical reflection, and lived experience. Investing emotion in objects, the author elevates humble household utensils into witnesses of time, and through natural landscapes and group portraits explores the relationship between the individual and the universe, tradition and modernity, opening an ultimate inquiry into human nature and the meaning of existence. The language is concise and profound, offering both tender attention to everyday details and a grand perspective on history and philosophy—a powerful essay collection that fuses poetry and philosophical insight.

Editor's review

*Bu She* is an essay collection by Li Hanrong, divided into eight parts that run from “Collecting Time” to “On Faith,” tracing everyday objects, natural imagery, historical reflection, and lived experience to weave a spiritual map across time and space. The author excels at investing objects with feeling, turning humble household items into witnesses of time, and using natural landscapes and group portraits to explore the relationship between the individual and the universe, tradition and modernity, and ultimately to ask what it means to be human and to exist. The language is condensed and profound, combining a tender gaze at everyday detail with a grand philosophical view of history, creating a texture in which poetry and thought coexist. The eight-part structure allows readers to progress section by section; it suits those willing to slow down and ponder the text, especially essay readers who love nostalgic themes and humanistic reflection, and it can also serve as a reference for writers learning how essays move from objects to ideas.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love nostalgic, philosophical essays and are willing to read slowly and reflect
Those interested in writing about everyday objects, natural imagery, and lived experience
Readers concerned with the relationship between tradition and modernity and fond of humanistic reflection
Writers who want to learn how essays invest objects with feeling and develop thought from detail

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking light entertainment or strong humor and storytelling
Readers accustomed to fast reading who prefer not to linger over the text
Readers with little interest in philosophical questioning or a nostalgic tone

Reading tips

Read in the order of the eight parts, noting the shift in thread from “Collecting Time” to “On Faith”
Pause after each part to sort out the connections among objects, nature, and reflection in that section
Slow down at passages dense with philosophical thought and make brief annotations
Keep reading notes to record images and questions that resonate

About the publisher

Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Founded in August 1958 and restructured into Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in 2009, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House is known for publishing essays and fiction, and it hosts the journals Fiction Monthly and Essays. Its 757 titles in the library span classic works, culture, folk literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, foreign literature, and general biography. They include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Zhu Ziqing's selected essays and Classic Essays, Fu Lei's Twenty Lectures on Masterpieces of World Art, and a Chinese translation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Rashōmon, as well as cultural and performing-arts titles such as the illustrated Biography of Liang Qichao and A Dictionary of Crosstalk. Its authors include Lao She, Zhu Ziqing, Wu Qichang, Fu Lei, Xue Baokun, Gao Yucong, Wei Zhiqiang, and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

版权信息
第一辑时光的收藏
一只竹篮
柳木菜板
桐子树与李商隐的西窗烛
竹帘，一格一格的思念
榆木书桌
水勺，盈盈的心
太阳几竹竿高
屋檐
稻草守望的原野
走调
童年的床单
香台的守护
龙头拐杖：安详的龙
烛台：古老的守夜者
绣花针：民间的美神
磨的幻象
雕花木床：一艘古船
第二辑梦回唐朝
唐朝的酒与酒令
唐朝的山
唐朝的河流
唐朝的倒影
唐朝的云
唐朝的渡口
唐朝的纸
唐朝的桥
唐朝的月光
唐朝的星空
唐朝的墙壁
唐朝的庙
唐朝的牛
唐朝的便条
唐朝的狗
唐朝的韭菜
唐朝的那头驴
唐朝的那些鸟
唐朝的雪
第三辑古意
清溪
泉韵
暮虹
瀑声
雪意
犬吠
芭蕉
蒲扇
空屋
落日
蓬门
柳烟
妙音
云中
星窗
密林
幽径
古潭
幽谷
野桥
东篱
棋亭
第四辑怀旧者
自省者
怀旧者
思想者
节欲者
梦游者
饮者
隐者
歌者
圣者
第五辑谭妈永生
操心的母亲
父亲的遗容
谭妈永生
哲学家的遗容
天文学家的遗嘱
我想拥有与爱因斯坦共处一个下午的时光
我梦见孔子
大海的睡眠
第六辑温暖的地址
谢家桥
农家坡，农家婆
连二三弯
凤凰山
黄家院子
懒人坪
原公镇
二里河
文川
南沙河
想念小村
五泉山
大地湾
第七辑我生命中经历的第一次
第一次看见妈妈哭
第一次看见雪
第一次看见彩虹
第一次拜月
第一次播种
第一次知道人是从哪里来的
第一次为爷爷上坟
第一次看见流星
第一次爬山
第一次独自走夜路
第一次熬中药
第一次上树
第一次上山采蘑菇
第一次看电影
第一次看见燕子筑窝
第一次看见泉
第一次看见蚂蚁
第一次看见闪电
第一次上房看瓦
第一次看见公鸡打架
第一次看见杀猪
第一次看见死人
第一次过河
第一次查字典
第一次看见地球仪
第一次捉鱼
第一次看地窖
第一次拾钱
第一次寄情书
露天写作后记

FAQ

What connects the eight parts of the book?

According to the materials, the book is divided into eight parts, from “Collecting Time” to “On Faith,” with threads involving everyday objects, natural imagery, historical reflection, and lived experience. Each part has a different emphasis, but together they point to the relationship between the individual and the universe, tradition and modernity, and to questions of human nature and the meaning of existence, forming a spiritual map that unfolds step by step.

Is the writing too obscure or difficult?

The book does offer a grand philosophical view of history, and some passages require slower reading; but the author begins with everyday objects and natural imagery, and the language, though condensed, remains concrete—this is not purely theoretical writing. Readers can start with chapters rich in detailed description and then move on to the more speculative sections.

Is it suitable as a reference for essay writing?

Yes. The book invests objects with feeling, elevating humble utensils into witnesses of time, and uses nature and people to develop reflections on the individual and the universe, demonstrating how to move from concrete detail to deeper themes. Writers can study its structural arrangement and choice of imagery, but should not simply imitate it—they should combine it with their own experience.

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About the author

李汉荣 Author

Li Hanrong is a Chinese essayist about whom limited public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly recorded. Five of his works are included here: Our Old Objects, Meeting in a More Passionate Wind, A Collection of Works by Popular Writers for the National High School Entrance Chinese Exam, The Brightness of Sirius, and Reluctance to Let Go, generally classified as miscellaneous prose. Judging from these titles and their categorization, his writing tends to center on everyday objects, memory, and feeling, while also providing Chinese reading materials for middle school students, in a lyrical, essayistic prose style. The inclusion of the exam-oriented collection suggests that some of his pieces have entered the reading scope of the high school entrance Chinese exam and attracted attention in basic education reading selection. Overall, Li Hanrong works mainly in prose, with themes close to lived experience and personal reflection, and his writings have circulated among general readers and in middle school Chinese reading contexts.