Collected Works of Master Yilü

The Collected Works of Mr. Yilü, attributed to He Qin, is included in the Classics of Chinese Traditional Culture series. Its significance lies in presenting the writings of a traditional scholar in the form of the original collection, giving readers direct contact with the ancients' genres, tone, and concerns. The name Yilü in the title marks both a place and a person; collections of this kind often bring together scholarly discussions, letters, and miscellaneous writings, conveying how traditional scholarly life unfolded in everyday writing. Because the series emphasizes preserving the original form, the book's strength is not detailed modern annotation but the raw texture of the documents themselves: the arrangement of the pieces and the old forms of address and terminology are all clues to understanding the ecology of traditional literati writing. It is best read as a sample of traditional primary texts rather than as a popular work for quickly acquiring key points. Readers may attend to the scholarly attitude and manner of writing reflected in the collection, or place it within the lineage of collected works to appreciate how the ancients settled their learning and their relationships in words.