New Tides and Ancient Waves cover

New Tides and Ancient Waves

Rating 3.0
Word count
13K words
Chapters
104
ISBN
9787566822970

Tags

Summary

This is a personal poetry collection in which the author records, in classical Chinese verse forms, the footsteps of more than twenty years of business life at home and abroad. Probing the past and seeking the present, he uses classical poetry to give expression to feeling and thought. He writes of the people and events of today, and of history and antiquity, yet does not adhere rigidly to the metrical rules of traditional poetry. The contents touch on homesickness and remembrance of friends, history and antiquity, objects and the feelings they inspire, moral counsel and warning, and scenery and travel. Highly readable, the collection contains lines that capture a scene or a mood with delightful wit, as well as phrases that provoke reflection and carry real weight.

Editor's review

New Tides and Ancient Waves is a collection of cultural essays with a distinctive perspective, published by Jinan University Press and written by the scholar Li Ming. It is not a strictly academic work but rather a personal dialogue between the author and ancient culture and contemporary trends. The core is visible in the title itself—the juxtaposition of "new tides" and "ancient waves" hints at the central question the book explores: how, amid the surging tides of the times, to recover, interpret, and reactivate the classical resources that seem remote yet are bound to us by spiritual bloodline.

The author's touch combines a scholar's prudence with a literary sensibility. He does not attempt to build a grand theoretical system; instead, he selects specific slices from literature, art, thought, and even daily life—such as the modern metaphor of a Tang poem, a contemporary way of viewing an ancient painting, or the resonance of a traditional philosophical idea in the digital age—and subjects them to delicate analysis and association. This "small incision, deep excavation" approach makes serious topics approachable and tangible. The essays are short in length but long in implication, often drawing profound insight from what seems a casual aside and guiding the reader to see that traditional culture is not a static display in a museum but a living source that can be continually reinterpreted and brought into resonance with present experience.

Its value for reading lies in offering a "non-utilitarian" way of drawing close to the classics. It does not provide standard answers or instill knowledge as conclusions; rather, it demonstrates a path of thinking and feeling. For modern readers surrounded by fragmented information, this calm, focused, and luminous text acts as a sobering tonic, enabling one to seek the steadiness and wisdom to move forward while looking back. The style is clear and elegant, combining reason with poetry; the act of reading is itself an intellectual and aesthetic pleasure.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who feel close to traditional culture but dislike rigid moralizing
  • Literature lovers who seek sparks of thought and aesthetic pleasure in essays
  • Thinkers who wish to understand the link between the classical and the modern from a cross-disciplinary perspective
  • People seeking deep reading and spiritual grounding amid a fast-paced life

Not a good fit for

  • Academic readers expecting a systematic, rigorous disciplinary history or monographic research
  • Readers of pure entertainment who want strong plot and tight narrative

Reading tips

  1. Read at a relaxed pace, without greed: savor one or two essays at a time, leaving room for aftertaste and reflection.
  2. While reading, relate the views to your own modern life experience, and try to enter into dialogue with or reflect on them.
  3. When a particular work or figure mentioned in the book stirs your interest, feel free to look further and enrich the layers of your reading.

About the publisher

Jinan University Press China · Founded in 1989

Jinan University Press is a comprehensive university press known for publishing in language and writing, history and culture, and medicine. Judging from the 2,481 titles in the database, its publishing focuses on language and writing research, the compilation of unearthed documents, Chinese culture and Eastern philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine, and grassroots medical standards. Representative books include the Chinese Dictionary (Second Edition), the series on the collected interpretation and modern translation of Warring States documents from the Language Services Series and the series on the language of unearthed documents, Chinese Cultural Psychology (6th Edition), Illustrated Compendium of Traditional Chinese Medicine Processing Techniques, and Construction and Technical Standards for Standardized Bronchoscopy Rooms in Primary-Level Pediatrics. In terms of authors, scholars such as Zhu Cheng, Zhang Yujin, Wang Fengyan, Zheng Hong, Cao Hui and Ma Zhiguo form its author base in language and documents, cultural psychology, and traditional Chinese medicine. In terms of publishing characteristics, the press emphasizes the collected interpretation and modern translation of unearthed documents and language service research, while also systematically organizing cultural psychology and medical techniques. Public information on specific matters such as overseas Chinese-language education is limited and is therefore not elaborated here.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 前言
  3. 音乐会
  4. 拉巴斯高原二首
  5. 羊年寄语
  6. 赏樱花
  7. 春到田间
  8. 蟑螂
  9. 忆屈原
  10. 今昔
  11. 烈日
  12. 柠檬茶
  13. 致方舟先生
  14. 故乡
  15. 仙女下凡
  16. 南沙吟
  17. 福永码头
  18. 香港国际机场
  19. 悼天津爆炸死难者
  20. 春愁
  21. 金沢会客
  22. 黄昏谣
  23. 白石梨园
  24. 清溪钓秋
  25. 炒白菜
  26. 地震
  27. 池边树
  28. 白玉兰
  29. 圣克鲁斯二首
  30. 腾空
  31. 雷雨
  32. 钗头凤 外销
  33. 钗头凤 失眠(一)
  34. 钗头凤 失眠(二)
  35. 满庭芳
  36. 饮食
  37. 巴拉圭牧场
  38. 北智利之行二首
  39. 大海
  40. 大海恋情
  41. 赶机
  42. 迪拜
  43. 仙台咏冬
  44. 长安夜吟
  45. 悲冬
  46. 世事人情
  47. 晨炊妙韵
  48. 月亮
  49. 猴年除夕
  50. 春节
  51. 放牛娃
  52. 富贵轮回
  53. 捕鼠记
  54. 将相和
  55. 沁园春 改革
  56. 回南天
  57. 浙江千岛湖
  58. 江西三清山二首
  59. 咏三清峰
  60. 端午怀古
  61. 西藏林芝
  62. 西藏布达拉宫
  63. 肇庆七星岩
  64. 观儿童跳绳
  65. 向日葵
  66. 井野公园之夏
  67. 洞爷湖秋夜
  68. 京港澳高速
  69. 贤妇人
  70. 酒
  71. 重阳登高二首
  72. 鸡公仔水库二首
  73. 吉隆坡
  74. 西江月 井冈山游
  75. 2018年元旦
  76. 行香子
  77. 水调歌头(一)
  78. 水调歌头(二)
  79. 清明二首
  80. 沙田黄昏
  81. 宴餐
  82. 咏叶挺
  83. 芙蓉市
  84. 荔枝怀古二首
  85. 莲花山之春
  86. 楚女
  87. 赤壁恨
  88. 周幽王
  89. 逆水行舟
  90. 春
  91. 长平之战
  92. 圣克鲁斯冬夜
  93. 归家之夜
  94. 荔枝
  95. 轮渡路遇阻
  96. 劝酒驾
  97. 感冒
  98. 生日
  99. 咏唐雎
  100. 申子有求
  101. 龙坑祭
  102. 文昌逸龙湾栈桥
  103. 新疆五彩滩
  104. 后记

FAQ

Is this book an academic work or a popular one?
It leans more toward cultural essays or academic prose; its footing is personal cultural observation and reflection. The writing is accessible and beautiful, but it contains scholarly grounding and intellectual depth, placing it between the professional and the popular.
Do I need a deep grounding in classical Chinese to understand it?
No. The author's use of classical materials is interpretive and suggestive, focused on conveying their spirit and contemporary meaning rather than on textual criticism or exegesis. Ordinary readers can fully understand it and resonate with it.
What exactly does "new tides" in the book refer to?
Here "new tides" does not refer to any particular fashion trend; it broadly denotes the rapidly changing, information-saturated, idea-proliferating modern and even postmodern condition and intellectual atmosphere in which we live.

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About the author

李明 Author

Li Ming: publicly available information is limited, and the existing sources are not sufficient to confirm his nationality, dates of birth and death, or personal history. Judging from the 24 works held in the collection, Li Ming is an author with a remarkably broad range, writing across management, law, medicine, sports, design, and fiction. Representative works include Competition for the Future for business readers and Short Video: Planning, Production and Operations (MOOC Edition), a textbook closely tied to digital communication practice. His legal works include a cross-reference guide to the judicial interpretations of the General Provisions of the Contract Part of the Civil Code and a volume explaining those provisions with trial practice. The medical title Antibiotics Are a Double-Edged Sword: Don't Let Antibiotics Become a Killer of Health focuses on popular health science; Kettlebell Training is a sports title; design and cultural topics are represented by Studies in Qiang Embroidery Images; and Qingdao Stories is a work of fiction. Overall, his writing balances professional expertise with readability and addresses practitioners and general readers alike.

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