My 1980

Name: My 1980
ISBN: 9787220138294

Li YiSichuan People's Publishing House · ChinaAug 2026

3.5

Word count: 150K words
Chapters: 35
ISBN: 9787220138294

Report an error Find this book

Summary

This book is a collection of personal essays and belongs to the "Post-1960s Scholarship and Life Series."

The manuscript is divided into four parts. "Beginnings in Learning" recounts the author's childhood love of literature, as in "My Science Fiction, My Dream." "The Normal University Campus in the 1980s" describes the author's student life at Beijing Normal University and his interactions with his teachers, as in "My Advisor Wang Furen." "First Steps as a Teacher" recounts the author's earliest experiences as a teacher, as in "My First Students." "Scholars' Essays" offers profiles of prominent contemporary Chinese scholars, as in "Wu Fuhui: A Scholar's Taste and Temperament" and "Chen Pingyuan: Emotional Care Within Academic Logic."

Parts of the manuscript were previously published in Biographical Literature and Essays.

Editor's review

My 1980 is a collection of personal essays bearing a distinct personal stamp. From the perspective of a scholar born in the 1960s, Li Yi links childhood literary awakenings, student years at Beijing Normal University, early teaching experience, and profiles of contemporary scholars into a warm, clear timeline. The book looks back with feeling on sci-fi dreams, campus teachers and friends, and sketches with fine strokes the wit and temperament of scholars such as Wang Furen, Wu Fuhui, and Chen Pingyuan. It does not lay out grand narratives but presents a generation of intellectuals' spiritual growth and academic inheritance through everyday details. Some pieces were previously published in Biographical Literature and Essays, and the style is steady and readable. It suits reading piece by piece on quiet evenings and also works as an impressionistic reader for understanding 1980s campus culture and academic life. For readers interested in anecdotes of contemporary scholars and fond of personal essays, this book offers a warm sense of presence and memorable silhouettes of people.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy personal essays and feel nostalgic about 1980s campus life
University teachers and students interested in contemporary Chinese academic history and scholars' anecdotes
General readers who want to understand the growth path and literary awakening of scholars born in the 1960s
Readers who need short profiles and reminiscences for fragmented reading time

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic academic monographs or deep theoretical analysis
Readers who prefer strongly plotted fiction and lack patience for reminiscence essays
Young readers completely unfamiliar with 1980s campuses and academic figures

Reading tips

Read in the order of the four parts: begin with 'Mengxue Ji' to establish the author's background, then move on to the campus and teaching sections.
Treat the 'Scholars' Essays' section as standalone profiles; after each piece, look up the representative works of the scholar concerned.
Read one or two pieces at bedtime or during commutes, without rushing, and note how details correspond to the atmosphere of the era.
After finishing, choose the piece that moves you most and write a short review of about one hundred words, tracing the lines of mentorship and temperament presented in the book.

About the publisher

Sichuan People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1952

Sichuan People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher whose list spans social fiction, art, foreign literature, finance and biography; the 358 titles in the database show a catalogue balancing classics with general reading. Representative books include Lu Xun's A Madman's Diary, Feng Zikai's Paintings for the Protection of Life, works associated with Li Shutong, and foreign-literature translations such as André Gide's Strait Is the Gate and Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and The Dancing Girl: Classic Works of Yasunari Kawabata. In finance there is Security Analysis, and in biography the New Biography of Su Dongpo. Authors represented include Lu Xun, Feng Zikai, Li Shutong, Li Yumin, Zhu Zuci and Ye Zongmin. The publishing profile emphasizes literary classics alongside art books, and uses thematic series such as the "banned books" collection to address intellectual and scientific themes. Public information is limited, so this introduction focuses on the directions reflected in the database.

版权信息
作者简介
序一我们共同的寻路记
序二走出象牙塔的历史抒情
1980年代师大校园里的先生们
几代先生同堂的1980
昂首穿行在校园的老师们
导师王富仁
双子座蓝棣之
学生活动中的老师
那时的班主任和校长
生气勃勃的研究生老师群
我们都是“研究生”
师大的真性情
蒙学记
文学如水
我在露天看电影
读图的记忆
声音的启蒙
我的科幻我的梦
初为人师
走在乡间的小路上
我的第一批弟子
乡村的鲁迅
学人随笔
王得后：“立人”的脉络
张恩和：永远属于师大校园
王富仁：启蒙的记忆
钱理群：“活中国”的姿态
刘纳：历史的意义与学术的魅力
吴福辉：学者的趣味和气质
陈平原：学术逻辑中的情感关怀
杨义：“大文学”史观的重启和实践
冯铁：遥远的怀念
为我们自己的人生作传——代后记

FAQ

Is this book a novel or an essay collection?

It is a collection of personal essays, one volume in the '1960s Generation Academic and Life Series'. The book is divided into four parts: 'Mengxue Ji', '1980s Normal University Campus', 'First Steps as a Teacher', and 'Scholars' Essays'. The content consists mainly of the author's personal reminiscences and profiles of people; it is not fiction.

Can readers without an academic background get into it?

Yes. Most pieces are reminiscence essays in plain language that do not rely on specialized terminology. Even readers unfamiliar with scholars such as Wang Furen, Wu Fuhui, and Chen Pingyuan can enjoy the teachers' and friends' interactions and the details of daily life; those who wish to go deeper can use the figures mentioned as leads for further reading.

Is it suitable as a book for understanding 1980s campus culture?

It is suitable as an impressionistic reader. From the perspective of someone who was there, the author writes about studying at Beijing Normal University and early teaching experience, conveying the atmosphere of campus life and teacher-student relations of that era. But it is not a systematic study, and is better read alongside relevant university histories and academic history materials.

Some pieces were previously published; does the collection feel repetitive?

Sources indicate that some content was previously published in Biographical Literature and Essays, but the book has been rearranged into four parts, forming an overall thread around the author's growth and scholarly interactions. Read in order, the pieces build on one another and do not feel loose because of prior publication.

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

Li Yi Author · China · 1966

Li Yi was born in Chongqing in June 1966 and holds a doctorate in literature. He is dean, professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Literature and Journalism of Sichuan University, and also serves as a professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University. His research focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese poetry, Lu Xun, and modern literary trends. His books include Chinese Modern New Poetry and the Classical Poetic Tradition, A Bashu Cultural Reading of Modern Sichuan Literature, and Biographies of Writers of the July School, and he is editor-in-chief of the journal Modern Chinese Culture and Literature. The works by him in this catalog span medicine, literary appreciation, prose and computer applications, reflecting interdisciplinary interests and a balance between scholarship and popular writing. Public information about his life and influence is limited.