Starry Night

Name: Starry Night
ISBN: 9787546313825

Lu YinJilin Publishing Group Co., Ltd. · ChinaApr 2017

4.0

Word count: 224K words
Chapters: 17
ISBN: 9787546313825

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Summary

This collection brings together representative essays by Lu Yin, including "Spring Light Beyond the Window," "In Praise of Summer," "A Lone Boat on a Moonlit Night," "A Few Honest Words," "Memories Beneath the Moon," "Can the Soul Be Sold?," "Lishi's Diary," "An Old Friend by the Seaside," "Where Is the Road Home," "Beneath Leifeng Pagoda," and "Sent to a Lone Swan at the Edge of the World."

Editor's review

"Starry Night" is a representative selection of Lu Yin's essays, including "Spring Light Beyond the Window," "A Lone Boat on a Moonlit Night," "Old Friends by the Seaside," "Where Is the Road Home," and "To a Lone Swan at the Edge of the World." Its subjects range from spring light, summer song, and moonlit nights to lone boats and the question of life's homeward path. Lu Yin's prose is frank and tinged with melancholy; she weaves personal experience with the spirit of the age in a lyrical style, offering both direct questioning of the soul and existence and delicate portrayals of friendship, solitude, and wandering. These essays do not rely on plot but excel in the flow of emotion and thought. They suit slow reading on a quiet night or in solitude, and also serve as an introductory reader for understanding women's writing and the lyrical tradition of modern prose around the May Fourth era. Readers can sense how a woman writer used the essay to confront herself and her times.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love modern lyrical prose, especially women's writing
Literature enthusiasts studying May Fourth era literature and Lu Yin's work
Readers of essays who prefer delicate emotion and a melancholic tone
Chinese department students and teachers seeking selected readings in modern prose

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer tightly plotted, strongly narrative books
Those hoping to gain practical methods or knowledge from essays
Readers easily wearied by melancholy, lyrical prose

Reading tips

Read by thematic grouping, for example starting with landscape pieces before essays of existential questioning
Read one or two pieces at a time, pausing afterward to absorb the flow of emotion and thought
In longer pieces such as "Old Friends by the Seaside," note how personal experience intertwines with the spirit of the age
Keep a pen handy to mark lines that move you, for later review and comparison

About the publisher

Jilin Publishing Group Co., Ltd. China · Founded in 2003

Jilin Publishing Group Co., Ltd. focuses on fine fiction, social sciences, literary appreciation, history, classical poetry and classical literature, with 1,141 titles in the library. Representative books include Dan Simmons's science fiction novels Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, Freud's works on psychology and society such as The Ego and the Id and Group Psychology, and classical literature ranging from Laozi and Zhuangzi, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Three Hundred Poems of the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties to Lü Simian's A General History of China. Its authors include Dan Simmons, Freud, Laozi, Lü Simian, Hengtang Tuishi, Pan Zhenhua, Li Yi and Guan Shanming, reflecting a balance between translated works and domestic editions. Public information is limited; the above is based on the library's holdings.

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FAQ

Which works by Lu Yin are included in "Starry Night"?

The book includes representative essays by Lu Yin, chiefly "Spring Light Beyond the Window," "In Praise of Summer," "A Lone Boat on a Moonlit Night," "A Few Honest Words," "Recollections Under the Moon," "Can the Soul Be Sold?," "Lishi's Diary," "Old Friends by the Seaside," "Where Is the Road Home," "Below Leifeng Pagoda," and "To a Lone Swan at the Edge of the World."

What kind of reading approach suits Lu Yin's essays?

Her essays excel in the flow of emotion and thought rather than plot, so they suit slow reading in quiet solitude, one or two pieces at a time. Pause afterward to absorb the melancholy and questioning, and mark lines that strike you for later review.

Is this book suitable as an introduction to modern prose?

Yes. The selected pieces are representative essays by Lu Yin, covering landscape, personal reflection, and existential questioning, and they reflect women's writing and modern lyrical prose around the May Fourth era. For readers wanting to understand the prose style of this period, it is a convenient anthology.

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About the author

Lu Yin Author · Chinese · 1898–1934

Lu Yin (1898–1934), originally named Huang Shuyi and also known as Huang Ying, was a native of Minhou, Fujian, and a prominent woman writer of the May Fourth period as well as the first female member of the Literary Research Society. Known for her fiction and essays, she authored such representative works as "Old Friends by the Seaside," "The Sorrow of Someone," "To an Old Friend in Yanbei," "A Thread of Sorrow Sent to the Wild Geese," and "Starry Night," along with The Complete Works of Lu Yin. Her writings often portray the anguish and aspirations of educated women in a natural, autobiographical style with genuine feeling, making her an important female voice in May Fourth new literature. The collection holds 49 of her works, spanning essays and miscellaneous writings, social fiction, and classic works. She died in Shanghai in 1934 from complications of childbirth at the age of 36.