Hometown Chaozhou
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Summary
Editor's review
Chen Pingyuan's writing is restrained and resonant: he celebrates Chaozhou's cultural pride as a "seaside Zou-Lu" while not shying away from the traumas and hardships in its history. This combination of "feeling" and "scholarship" makes the book a model of local writing. For readers, it is not merely an intellectual journey through a particular region but also an excellent sample for understanding how "hometown" is constructed and remembered as a cultural concept. What emerges is a modern scholar's complex feelings about "roots" in a globalized context—attached without wallowing, examining without detachment—an attitude that is itself highly illuminating.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in Chaoshan culture and Lingnan history who seek deeper understanding
- Readers who appreciate scholarly essays and nonfiction that combines personal narrative with grand history
- Intellectuals living far from home who continually ponder the "hometown" and cultural identity
- Students and enthusiasts of local history, folklore, and cultural geography
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking light travelogues or purely scenic and culinary introductions
- Readers expecting novelistic strong plots and dramatic conflict
Reading tips
- Read the opening and closing chapters first to grasp the author's emotional tone and central questions, then move into the specific historical narratives.
- Extend your reading around key figures (such as Han Yu) or historical events mentioned in the book to deepen your understanding.
- Consult a map while reading to build a sense of geographic space and better appreciate the cultural distinctiveness brought by Chaozhou's position at the "tail of the province, corner of the nation."
About the publisher
The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 辑一 回望故乡
- 如何谈论“故乡”
- 六看家乡潮汕——一个人文学者的观察与思考
- 乡土教材的编写与教学——关于《潮汕文化读本》
- 古城潮州及潮州人的文化品格
- 纸上的声音——从书展到月历
- 作为一种生活方式的古城
- 美食三柱
- 阅读趣味与地域文化——我读许地山、林语堂、丘逢甲、张竞生
- 《潮汕文化三人谈》小引
- 《一纸还乡》小引
- 《潮汕文化读本》序
- “潮人潮学”开场白
- 《图说潮州文化》序
- 辑二 故乡人文
- 俗文学研究视野里的“潮州”
- 在“爱国”与“爱乡”之间——以晚清潮州乡土教材的编写为中心
- 走向地方的新文化——《潮州民间文学选辑》总序
- 孤独的寻梦人
- 新文化运动的另一面——从卢梭信徒张竞生的败走麦城说起
- 自学成才的好处与困境
- “为善”真的“最乐”
- 《潮剧史》小引
- 《旧影潮州》序
- 《行读天下》序
- 《造化心源——林丰俗作品展》序
- 辑三 自家生活
- 父亲的书房
- 父亲的诗文
- 永远的“高考作文”
- 子欲养而亲不待
- 未完成的“家族史”
- 不知茱萸为何物
- 乡间的野花——回忆我的中学生活
- 五味杂陈的春节故事
- 扛标旗的少女——我的春节记忆
- 冰糖鸡蛋
- 那是决定自己命运的关键时刻
- 教育的责任与魅力——在韩山师院“陈北国际交流奖学金”颁奖仪式上的致辞
- 文化馆忆旧
- 山乡春节杂忆
- 农校子弟——“洋铁岭下”之一
- 上学去——“洋铁岭下”之二
- 逃学记——“洋铁岭下”之三
- 我的语文老师——“洋铁岭下”之四
- 《双亲诗文集》缘起
- 《学书小集》序
- 《游侠·私学·人文——陈平原手稿集》后记
- 后记：最忆是潮州
FAQ
How does this book differ from ordinary hometown memoirs or local gazetteers?
Can readers without a Chaozhou background understand and relate to it?
Does the book cover specific cultural forms such as the Chaoshan dialect and folk customs?
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About the author
Chen Pingyuan, born in 1954 in Chaozhou, Guangdong, is a Boya Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, a Distinguished Professor under the Ministry of Education's "Changjiang Scholars" program, and a member of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History. He previously served as chair of the department. His research focuses on twentieth-century Chinese literature, the history of Chinese fiction, intellectual history, and the history of education. His writings are known for their clear problem awareness, solid use of sources, and lucid argumentation, and he excels at examining literary phenomena and intellectual issues within their historical contexts. His representative works include The Transformation of Narrative Modes in Chinese Fiction, The Starting Point of Modern Chinese Fiction: A Study of Late Qing and Early Republican Fiction, The Dream of the Scholar-Martial Artist (revised edition), and The Unfinished May Fourth: Historical Scene and Intellectual Dialogue. He is also the author of A Brief History of Chinese Fiction and A Brief History of Chinese Prose, and has annotated A Brief History of Chinese Fiction and compiled Materials on Fiction Theory in the Late Qing and Early Republican Periods, exerting wide influence in the fields of fiction history and May Fourth studies.
