The Temptation of Books

Name: The Temptation of Books
ISBN: 9787559815781

黄仕忠Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaMay 2020

3.6

Word count: 161K words
Chapters: 69
ISBN: 9787559815781

Report an error Find this book

Summary

The Allure of Books collects dozens of essays by Professor Huang Shizhong—informal reflections, prefaces and afterwords—on his student years, reading, remembrance of mentors, and searches for rare texts, together with an appendix containing a news report and a preface by Professor Zheng Shangxian to Studies in the History of Chinese Drama. The pieces touch on his intellectual journey and scholarly path, his recollections of teachers and mentors, his travels in China and abroad in search of rare works on drama and the process of collating and publishing them, and accounts of Japanese scholars collecting and seeking out texts in China since modern times. Written in a lively, accessible style throughout, the book reveals everywhere the academic growth and rigorous, truth-seeking scholarship of its author. It offers readers vivid material for a full understanding of Professor Huang Shizhong's scholarly career and intellectual development, and through his prose allows a fuller sense of the warmth of his life beyond scholarship. In style it combines scholarly rigor with relaxed, pleasurable everyday reflection, making it rich in content and brisk in prose, both scholarly and readable.

Editor's review

The Allure of Books is a collection of essays by Professor Huang Shizhong on books and people, reading and life. Though a professor of classical philology at Sun Yat-sen University, the author does not present himself through abstruse scholarship but speaks as a seasoned book lover and collector, recounting in an easy manner the decades in which he has been bound to books. The volume offers professional, delightful talk of editions and book-hunting anecdotes—the joys and pains of seeking editions of The Story of the Lute, for instance—and is filled above all with warm reflection on the nature of reading: how books shape us, and how through them we converse with the world. The prose is plain and restrained, yet carries the clarity and generosity that come from years and learning. This is not a how-to book on reading but a spiritual map drawn by books, recording a scholar's inner journey between old paper and present life and showing how reading can become a way of living and a spiritual support. For readers adrift in an age of fragmented information, it offers a calm and powerful point of reference, reminding us of the value of deep reading in shaping character and settling the mind.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Book collectors interested in the history, editions, and collecting of books themselves
Readers eager to rebuild deep reading habits amid a fast-paced life
Readers who enjoy calm, plain essays rich in the flavor of human life
Those curious about traditional Chinese culture and the inner world of a scholar

Not a good fit for

Pragmatists seeking specific reading methods or reading lists
Readers expecting strong plots and dramatic, ups-and-downs stories

Reading tips

Best read in a leisurely mood; no need to finish in one sitting—good for savoring in spare moments
Read alongside reflection on your own reading experience; it may stir memories of your own relationship with books
When a particular old book or figure mentioned catches your interest, feel free to look further into it to better appreciate the author's context

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

版权信息
序
上学记
书的诱惑
我的大学之路
我的学术经历
徐门问学记
学者之域
两个半人的肉与澳大利亚面粉
偶遇徐志摩
访书记
影书记
访长田夏树先生藏书偶记
地坛淘书记
东京第一日
东京淘书记
东京一周
《水浒记》训译本
清代词人顾太清的稿本戏曲《桃园记》
拓室因添善本书
长泽规矩也中国访书记
王国维旧藏善本词曲书籍的归属
品书集
读史阅世忆华年
治史经验谈
读《师门问学录》
兵以诈立
花间一壶酒
晚明文人的心态
柳如是之死
通观与贯通
一个私奔女子之死
晚清北京的堂子与清代戏曲的兴盛
袁氏当国岂偶然
毛彦文与吴宓：不能不说的《往事》
印刷书的诞生
摩挲古籍论印本
他年想象藏书者，说是宋廛中一翁
读书与藏书之间
冷摊淘书觅生涯
一入深宫里，无由得见春
论学集
如此严师，还会有吗？
与某兄论发文书
学问不是什么大不了的事情
百分之九十五与百分之五
用善意的态度对待所面对的事情
访与学
怀人集
梦
家叔十年祭
牧惠先生三年祭
金文京先生小纪
序跋集
属于历史的仍将归于历史
琵琶一曲友古人
学问本是冷门事
或裨益于素心人
踵迹前贤蹑后尘
《日本所藏中国戏曲文献研究》绪言
十年成得事一桩
集腋成裘事可商
《戏曲与俗文学研究》发刊词
陈旭耀《现存明刊〈西厢记〉综录》序
郭梅《浙江女曲家研究》序
清代内廷演剧的戏曲史意义
附录
黄仕忠：对于学者，书要紧的是用
黄仕忠《中国戏曲史研究》序

FAQ

Is this a professional book about collecting rare books?

Not purely a professional work. It does include the author's book-hunting and collecting experience and expertise as a textual scholar, but its core is a personal exploration of the emotional and spiritual bond between people and books; the specialized material serves the expression of reflections on life.

Is the content very obscure and hard to understand?

The style is generally approachable. The author writes in an essayistic manner; even when textual and bibliographical knowledge appears, it is mostly presented as story and reflection, focused on sharing pleasure and insight rather than academic argument, so ordinary readers can read it smoothly.

How is this book different from common books of 'reading reflections'?

The greatest difference lies in the author's 'dual identity.' He is both a scholar steeped in traditional culture for decades and an ordinary, passionate book lover. The perspective thus combines professional depth with the warmth of a personal life, and his account of 'the allure of books,' rooted in deep scholarly practice and long life experience, feels especially genuine and rich.

Comments

Find this book

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

黄仕忠 Author

Huang Shizhong is an author about whom limited public information is available. His works center mainly on classical Chinese drama and folk literature. Four of his titles are included here—The Injustice to Dou E, The Collected Works of Guan Hanqing, Zhao Pan'er Saves a Prostitute by Moonlight, and The Lure of Books—spanning categories such as classic works, classical poetry, and prose and miscellaneous writings. The first two of these dramatic titles are famous zaju plays by Guan Hanqing, and Huang's editions or studies of them reflect a sustained attention to Yuan drama texts and theatrical tradition, while The Collected Works of Guan Hanqing presents the output of this Yuan-dynasty playwright in a concentrated form. The title The Lure of Books points toward the essay and miscellaneous prose genre, showing that his writing is not confined to dramatic sources. On the whole, his work is grounded in classical drama and folk literature, combining textual arrangement with essayistic expression, and readers may enter the world of Guan Hanqing and Yuan drama through his books.