Listening to the Rain: A Collection (Phoenix Branch Collection)

The author "loved walking alone in the rain as a child, enjoyed the rustle of the rain, and took comfort in the solitude of the empty wilderness," hence the title Listening to Rain. This small volume collects essays and occasional pieces and scholarly articles by Mr. Zhou Xuanlong, editor-in-chief of Zhonghua Book Company, recording a generation of scholars' romantic literary dreams, their persistent scholarly pursuits, and the happy times spent with teachers and friends. The book is divided into five sections—"Essays and Occasional Pieces," "Notes on Reading the Nineteen Old Poems," "Occasional Findings on Reading Dream of the Red Chamber," "A Close Look at Wu Mi" and "Random Notes on Translation"—presenting in five dimensions Mr. Zhou Xuanlong's creative and scholarly work in the essay, the Nineteen Old Poems, Dream of the Red Chamber, Wu Mi, and the translation and back-translation of Chinese classics. His accounts of his dealings with Mr. Yang Jiang and Professor Xu Qinghui are deeply moving; his close study of Dream of the Red Chamber, the Nineteen Old Poems, Qian Zhongshu and Wu Mi reflects the tireless deep cultivation and reflection he has pursued in scholarship alongside his working life; and most impressive of all is his analysis of Clement's English translation of The Plum in the Golden Vase, sentence by sentence, which amply demonstrates his profound learning and skill.