My Reading History

Name: My Reading History
ISBN: 9787301187531

Hong ZichengPeking University Press · ChinaAug 2025

4.2

Word count: 195K words
Chapters: 25
ISBN: 9787301187531

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Summary

In this book, the author recalls and recounts his reading experiences over many years. Known as the author of A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature and Problems and Methods, he is a scholar whose writing is restrained and calm yet inwardly rich and sensitive. Here he frees himself from academic conventions and frameworks, moving through personal experience, emotional currents, and details of the era, revealing the formation of his character and scholarly thought. This personal narrative complements and interprets the grand narrative of literary history, offering another account of literary history, one that is more vivid and individual in character.

Editor's review

The appeal of this book lies not in its conclusions but in how a literary historian places himself back at the scene of reading. Hong Zicheng looks back on years of reading experience in a restrained, spare style, weaving personal temperament, scholarly judgment, and the atmosphere of the times together, so that "what to read, how to read, and why to read" becomes a tangible thread of growth. It reminds readers that scholarly thought does not arise out of thin air but takes shape slowly through repeated choices and hesitations in reading. Compared with formally structured literary histories, this personal narrative preserves warmth and contingency, and reveals a sensitive, rich inner life behind cool prose. It suits slow reading in quiet hours; there is no need to chase progress. It can serve as a mirror for examining your own reading path and considering how reading shapes taste, question-awareness, and ways of seeing the world.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and researchers of modern and contemporary Chinese literature who want to understand how a scholar's question-awareness forms
General readers who enjoy reading essays and scholars' memoirs and value personal experience and the texture of the prose
Young readers who want to reflect on their own reading paths and develop reading self-awareness
Those interested in methods of literary-history writing who want to see how small personal narratives complement grand narratives

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic literary-history knowledge or a chronological survey of authors and works
Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative and lack patience for essayistic reminiscence
Students who need an outline-style book that can be used directly for exam review

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and preface first, find the reading period that interests you most, and start there
Read only one or two pieces at a time, then note the reading judgments that struck you and compare them with your own experience
When the author discusses scholarly choices, look back over your own reading list and form a brief personal reading history
If you are familiar with the history of contemporary Chinese literature, read through with the question of how personal narrative complements literary history

About the publisher

Peking University Press China · Founded in 1979

Peking University Press is a comprehensive university press whose publishing areas cover classical literature, popular science, social culture, world history, Western philosophy, and culture. Its catalogue contains 6,031 titles, with representative books including A Dream of Red Mansions, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (15th Edition) (with Einstein's classic papers on unified field theory and other topics), Elements, Conics, The Aristocratic Families of the Eastern Jin, The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume I), The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume II), and The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Representative authors include Cao Xueqin, Zhou Ruchang, Albert Einstein, Euclid, Apollonius, Tian Yuqing, Schelling, and Xian Gang. The press has developed distinctive strengths in classical Chinese literature and in the translation of Western philosophical classics, while also covering scientific classics and social and cultural studies. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalogue and offers no further extrapolation.

版权信息
序
语文课外的书
我的“巴金阅读史”
巴金的精神遗产〔1〕
历史承担的意义
“怀疑”的智慧和文体
批评的尊严
“幸存者”的证言
有生命热度的学术
“边缘”阅读和写作〔1〕
在不确定中寻找位置
一部小说的延伸阅读
思想、语言的化约与清理
“一体化”论述及其他
“限度”的意识
关于《切·格瓦拉》的通信
“组织部”里的当代文学问题
90年代：在责任与焦虑之间〔1〕
文学的焦虑症〔1〕
“树木的礼赞”
“为赞颂一切我所焚毁的……”
穿越当代的文学史写作〔1〕
代后记：读书的心情
作者简介

FAQ

Is this Hong Zicheng's scholarly autobiography?

It can be seen as reading reminiscence with autobiographical color, not a full account of his life. It centers on years of reading experience and links personal experience, emotion, and period detail, focusing on how reading helped shape character and scholarly thought rather than recounting life events one by one.

Can I read it without having read A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature?

Yes. The book's main thread is personal reading experience and does not depend on prior knowledge of any particular work. Of course, if you have read the author's literary history, it is easier to appreciate why he chose this restrained mode of narration and the tension between small personal narratives and the grand narrative of literary history.

How is it different from ordinary scholars' memoirs?

The difference is that it focuses on "reading" rather than anecdotes of social life. The author places the books he read, the judgments he formed, and the atmosphere of the times together, presenting the slow formation of scholarly thought. The prose is spare and cool, but the inner experience is rich; it works as an indirect demonstration of reading method.

Do I need to take notes while reading this book?

Not necessarily. If you want to read more deeply, you can note after each chapter where you felt resonance or retained objections, then compare them with your own reading experience. This turns passive reception into active reflection and helps you better appreciate what the author calls small personal narratives.

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About the author

Hong Zicheng Author · China · 1939

Hong Zicheng, born in April 1939 in Jieyang, Guangdong, is a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University and one of the important founders of the discipline of contemporary Chinese literature. After graduating from the department in 1961, he stayed on to teach and has long been engaged in the study of contemporary Chinese literature and modern Chinese poetry. He is the author of more than twenty works, including A History of Contemporary Chinese Literature, Questions and Methods, and A History of Contemporary Chinese New Poetry (co-authored). His History of Contemporary Chinese Literature and its revised edition have had wide influence; he also edited Selected Works of Contemporary Chinese Literature (revised edition) and Selected New Poems of the Past Century (two volumes), and wrote A Brief History of Chinese New Poetry over the Past Century, My Reading History, and Selected Academic Works of Hong Zicheng. His writing is known for solid historical sources and rigorous scholarship, spanning literary appreciation, modern poetry, and essays, and has had a profound influence on research and teaching in contemporary literature.