Zhou Dunyi

Name: Zhou Dunyi
ISBN: 9787520523592

柳守冰China Culture and History Press · ChinaOct 2024

3.3

Word count: 266K words
Chapters: 42
ISBN: 9787520523592

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Summary

Zhou Dunyi is a full-length historical novel. After years of research, the author combed through the historical record, seeking to reconstruct from vast but scattered and fragmentary materials the true figure and towering image of Zhou Dunyi—an able official, an incorruptible administrator, and the founding figure of Neo-Confucianism. Following the principle of "inventing nothing in the essentials," the novel takes as its thread the life and travels of Zhou Dunyi, a Confucian official of the Northern Song dynasty, linking events like beads on a string as it recounts and depicts his Confucian path: self-cultivation through study, lecturing and writing, founding academies, and educating others. In particular, it portrays his decades in office, during which he always took "the rise and fall of the realm as the responsibility of every common man" as his own duty—redressing wrongs and benefiting the people, never betraying the populace or the state, content in poverty and devoted to the Way, dutiful in guarding his territory, and integrating the salvation of the people into his own noble character, like a lotus rising from mud unstained, giving off a penetrating fragrance. The novel's stories are witty and full of delightful turns; its content is full of positive energy, with admirable passages on page after page.

Editor's review

This long historical novel pulls Zhou Dunyi back from the label of founding father of Neo-Confucianism into the concrete course of a life: study and self-cultivation, lecturing and writing, founding academies, educating others, and decades in office spent redressing wrongs, nourishing the people, and holding responsibility for the land. Adopting the principle that the broad outlines are not fictive, the author uses the trace of Zhou Dunyi's life as a thread, stitching scattered historical records into a coherent narrative that depicts both the daily life of a scholar-official and his character—content in poverty and devoted to the Way, taking the relief of the people as his own charge. The book's readability lies in grounding the Way of a thinker in the details of doing things and being a person; the story combines wit, interest, and moral uprightness, and will suit readers who want to understand the life of Northern Song scholar-officials and the practice of Confucianism. As you read, you may take the lotus image of rising from mud unstained as an entry point for understanding the character's spiritual temperament, and note where the author handles literary invention in the gaps of the historical record, distinguishing the framework of fact from narrative imagination.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Zhou Dunyi and Neo-Confucian figures of the Song dynasty
Readers who enjoy historical novels and want to understand the life of Northern Song scholar-officials
Readers concerned with the image of honest and capable officials and the tradition of academy education
Readers seeking读物 on traditional cultural figures who prefer narrative storytelling

Not a good fit for

Research-oriented readers expecting strict academic verification and citation notes
Readers of popular fiction who prefer fast pacing and strong conflict
Readers with little interest in Confucian figures and the subject of academy lecturing

Reading tips

Before reading, it helps to know the basics of Zhou Dunyi's "On the Love of the Lotus" and Neo-Confucianism; entering the character's situation will then be smoother.
Separate the two threads of "adjudicating cases in office" and "lecturing and writing," then see how the author links them through the thread of his travels.
Where literary description fills gaps in the historical record, mark it and compare it with reliable biographical sources after finishing.
After each stage, look back at how the lotus image echoes the character's choices; there is no need to rush through in one sitting.

About the publisher

China Culture and History Press China · Founded in 1980

China Culture and History Press has long devoted itself to modern and contemporary literature and culture-and-history reading matter, with publishing directions centered on classic works, social novels, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy, alongside culture-and-history periodicals such as Zongheng. Among the more than 1,500 titles in the collection, representative books include Zhang Henshui's Ti Xiao Yin Yuan, Lu Xun's Complete Classic Works (10 volumes) and Wild Grass, and Lao She's Four Generations Under One Roof series and the boxed set of Lao She's Classic Works (10 volumes), while its author resources are concentrated on figures such as Zhang Henshui, Lu Xun, Lao She and Sima Qian. Its publishing character lies in solid editorial work on culture-and-history source texts and in issuing famous authors' works in sets, balancing the readability of individual texts with the systematic presentation of complete collections for focused reading and collecting. Beyond these directions, public information on the press's contemporary original publishing is limited, so it is not elaborated here.

版权信息
引子
第一章甘露洒濂溪
第二章逐梦到汴京
第三章居丧鹤林寺
第四章陈县令授命
第五章初试露锋芒
第六章上任市征局
第七章相思两地愁
第八章狱囚不当死
第九章讲学授门徒
第十章想起那子曰
第十一章百姓和土地
第十二章一场大山洪
第十三章天灾未尽头
第十四章冬去复春来
第十五章劝得尤超归
第十六章声威镇南昌
第十七章家钱不满百
第十八章悠游长江行
第十九章家圆合州城
第二十章欣喜与伤悲
第二十一章六妹来续弦
第二十二章特殊两弟子
第二十三章又见王安石
第二十四章君子岂小人
第二十五章荷盛说爱莲
第二十六章小年夜之痛
第二十七章官清梦魂安
第二十八章拙政迁州学
第二十九章二公多荐贤
第三十章端砚平风波
第三十一章湖区肃偷盗
第三十二章寻圣凿莲池
第三十三章归去庐峰下
第三十四章绝顶看江湖
第三十五章携子游丛林
第三十六章雷雨惊匡山
附录：周敦颐年谱
太极图并说
主要参考书目
后记

FAQ

How close is this novel to real history?

The author states a principle that the broad outlines are not fictive, using the trace of Zhou Dunyi's life as a thread and developing the narrative within a framework of historical sources; specific dialogue, scenes, and details contain elements of literary imagination. Readers may treat the main travels, official career, and lecturing and writings as the factual skeleton, and the character's daily words and actions as the author's literary reconstruction based on sources, to be compared with relevant biographies afterward.

Can I understand it without knowing Neo-Confucianism?

Yes. The novel takes the character's travels and actions as its main line and does not focus on abstract doctrinal analysis; episodes such as lecturing, handling cases, and founding academies all have concrete scenes. Even readers unfamiliar with Neo-Confucian concepts can follow the character's experience and understand his conduct and views; those who wish to go deeper can then read Zhou Dunyi's short essays and related background introductions.

Is Zhou Dunyi portrayed as too perfect?

From the introduction, the author concentrates on his being content in poverty and devoted to the Way, holding responsibility for the land, and redressing wrongs and nourishing the people, so the overall tone is positive. But the novel uses his travels as a thread and also writes about the practical difficulties and daily choices of official work, rather than piling up praise alone. Readers may note how the author balances the "honest official" and the "capable official," while keeping a cautious judgment about the character portrayal.

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About the author

柳守冰 Author

Liu Shoubing is an author for whom publicly available information is currently limited: details such as place of origin, dates of birth and death, and professional career have not been clearly recorded and remain to be verified. According to the library's holdings, only one work appears under Liu Shoubing's name, namely Zhou Dunyi, which is classified as a social novel. It may therefore be inferred that the author tends to focus on human destinies and social reality through the form of the novel, incorporating observations of human nature and social relations into the narrative. Because the number of works is small and related critical material has not yet accumulated sufficiently, the overall character of the author's writing style and literary influence are difficult to assess comprehensively; readers seeking to understand the author's creative features still need to rely primarily on the specific text of Zhou Dunyi.