Read a Little Every Day, Improve a Little Every Day Series: Nothing You Can't Find, Only What You Can't Imagine (Culture, Art, History, War, Philosophy, Folk Customs, and Chinese Studies Encyclopedia · 12-Volume Set)

Li Juan / Zhang Zeyun / Wang Ying / Wang Shiyao / Qi Xuancong / 李妍 / 周瑾Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House2015

No rating yet
Series
Read a Little Every Day Series
ISBN
9787539972428

Tags

Society and Culture Social Sciences History for AllEncyclopediaCultural KnowledgeCultural PopularizationFolk CulturePhilosophy PrimerPopular Introduction

Summary

This is a popular general-knowledge series built around the reading idea "read a little every day, improve a little every day." The set has 12 volumes, and the publisher states that it covers culture, art, history, war, philosophy, folk customs, and Chinese studies, including such volumes as Read a Little Chinese Studies Knowledge Every Day, Read a Little Cultural Knowledge Every Day, Read a Little Traditional Culture Every Day, Read a Little World Cultural Knowledge Every Day, Read a Little Folk Culture Knowledge Every Day, Read a Little Philosophical Knowledge Every Day, Read a Little World War History Every Day, Read a Little Chinese History Every Day, Read a Little World History Every Day, Read a Little World War II History Every Day, Read a Little Chinese Cultural History Every Day, and Read a Little World Art History Every Day (the exact titles and volume composition are subject to the physical set). The series uses an item-based Q&A format: each volume is divided into chapters by theme, breaking a big topic into small entries of a few hundred characters each, one question and one answer, to be read at any moment. Read a Little World Cultural Knowledge Every Day, for example, spreads across seven areas: human history, clothing, food, housing, and transport; literature and art; politics and economics; military technology; customs and legends; and famous sites. Read a Little Folk Culture Knowledge Every Day is divided into eleven chapters: ethnic customs, festivals and temple fairs, couplets and witty matching, residential architecture, distinctive clothing, surnames and zodiac signs, totemic beliefs, quyi and acrobatics, martial arts and dance, traditional crafts, and folk legends. Read a Little World War History Every Day follows a timeline from ancient cold-weapon warfare all the way to the Gulf War, detailing famous campaigns. The books have many color inserts and a light format, suitable for turning fragmented time into small accumulations of knowledge. It does not aim for academic depth but provides a "commonsense library ready to hand": reading history clarifies timelines, reading war reveals geography and causes and consequences, and reading culture, folk customs, and Chinese studies provides everyday conversation material and self-education. For readers troubled by general-knowledge anxiety yet worried they cannot finish thick books, this series lowers the threshold very much—a few minutes a day, one entry finished, counts as a little progress.

Editor's review

「每天读一点」这类书，卖的不是深度，而是「能读下去」。这套丛书最聪明的地方，在于它把通识知识切成了几百字一条的小块：一次只解决一个问题，读完能立刻复述给别人听——这正是碎片化阅读时代最有效的知识留存方式。 选目也很懂读者心理。文化与民俗负责「接地气」，哲学与国学负责「补底蕴」，中国史、世界史、二战史、世界战争史负责「搭骨架」，世界艺术史负责「开眼界」。当这十二块拼在一起，一个普通人所需的基本常识地图大致成形了。问答体的好处是随时可中断：地铁上读两则战争史，睡前读一节民俗，都不必担心接不上线索。 需要提醒的是，这是「常识入门」而非「权威论著」，其中的观点多为概述性、结论性表述，涉及争议史事时宜再查专业读物求证。此外，该套装在市面上版本装帧不一，纸本与电子合集常被混同，购买时务必核对分册书名与册数。把它当案头的「常识速查」与「亲子共读素材」，最能发挥价值；若想借此深入某一领域，还请以此为起点，另寻专著。

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. 不必按册序读，先挑最感兴趣的一册（如民俗或战争史）切入，建立成就感
  2. 每天固定读3—5则问答，用手机备忘录记下一条最有用的知识点
  3. 读到与史事相关的条目，顺手在地图或时间轴上标注，把碎片串成线
  4. 遇有与主流说法不一致的结论，标记后查阅专业史书或权威百科复核

About the publisher

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1958

Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on literary publishing while also covering the humanities, social sciences, and books on art and daily life. Its approximately 1,535 titles in the database span social novels, world history, design, science fiction, classic works, and film and television: they include modern Chinese literary classics by Lu Xun such as A Madman's Diary: The Complete Short Stories of Lu Xun, Call to Arms, Four Generations Under One Roof, and Teahouse, as well as foreign literary memoirs like Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. In science fiction it offers Asimov's Galactic Empire series, while in architecture and art it publishes Liu Dunzhen's Classical Gardens of Suzhou and design titles from Phoenix Space. Its authors are concentrated among classic writers such as Lu Xun, Zweig, and Asimov, with translators including Liang Xijiang, Zhong Haonan, and Ye Lihua. Its overall character is built on classic works while embracing genre fiction and visual culture. Public information is limited, and this introduction is based on the titles in the database.

FAQ

这套书一共有多少册，包含哪些分册？ 出版社资料标注为套装共12册，涵盖国学、文化、传统文化、世界文化、民俗文化、哲学、世界战争史、中国史、世界史、二战史、中国文化史、世界艺术史等主题。不同渠道的装帧与分册组合略有差异，购买前请核对目录与实物册数。
ISBN 9787539972428 是整套书的还是某一册的？ 该 ISBN 在多家书目与百科资料中同时对应《每天读一点世界文化常识》及本套装，属于系列混用编码的情况。因此单本与套装常共用同一书号，选购时应以书名、册数与出版社标注为准。
书里的内容准确可靠吗？可以当史料引用吗？ 它属于大众普及读物，均为概述性、结论性表述，适合建立初步印象和常识框架，不宜作为论文或严肃写作的引用来源。涉及具体年代、数据、争议史事，建议再查专业史著与权威资料核实。
适合孩子读吗？大概什么年龄段？ 问答体短小、语言直白，初中及以上读者可独立阅读；小学中高年级适合亲子共读或由家长筛选章节。战争史分册含战役伤亡等描写，低龄读者建议由家长先行把关。
没有基础，直接读会不会看不懂？ 门槛较低。每则数百字独立成篇，不依赖前后文，遇到陌生概念可跳过或另查。建议先从文化、民俗类分册入手，再读历史与战争部分，层层递进更顺畅。

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 Juan Author · Chinese · 1979

Li Juan, born in 1979 in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and with her ancestral home in Lezhi, Sichuan, is a contemporary Chinese woman writer. She began writing in 1999, and her works are mainly prose, though they also touch on subjects such as world history. Her representative works include My Altay, Winter Pasture, the three-volume Goat Trail trilogy (Spring Pasture, Front Mountain Summer Pasture, and Deep Mountain Summer Pasture), and Distant Sunflower Fields; 47 of her works are held in this collection. Her prose is mostly drawn from everyday life in the pastoral and farming areas of northern Xinjiang. Her plain style and careful observation reveal the texture and warmth of life in the borderlands through ordinary people and natural scenes. Her writing has had a broad influence on contemporary Chinese prose, and she received the Prose and Essay Award at the 7th Lu Xun Literary Prize. Public information about her education and specific personal experiences is limited; the above introduction is based mainly on her works and known literary achievements.

Zhang Zeyun Author

Zhang Zeyun is an author about whom very little public information is available. What is known is that the author's main work is "No Search Too Hard, No Idea Too Bold," part of the "Read a Little Every Day, Improve a Little Every Day" series. Published as a twelve-volume set, it covers culture, art, history, war, philosophy, folklore, and Chinese classics, and has the character of an encyclopedic compilation of knowledge. In common cataloguing, the work is grouped under social culture, culture, and social science, suggesting that it is written for general readers and aims to popularize the humanities through short, accessible pieces. Because no reliable records of birth and death dates, nationality, or personal experience have been found, the author's life cannot be described in detail; the above outline is limited to the subject matter and editorial approach of the work.

Wang Ying Author · Chinese · 1942

Wang Ying (born 1942), originally named Wang Shengchao, is a native of Changxing, Zhejiang, and a member of the China Writers Association. He has worked in creative writing and editing in the military, and has served as deputy director of the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House and senior editor at Kunlun Publishing House. His writing covers a wide range, including novels, martial arts fiction, reportage, and philosophical series, with more than sixty works totaling over ten million characters. The library holds 17 of his works, spanning foreign literature, social culture, inspirational growth, social sciences, history, and computer science. Representative titles include A Certain Kokura Diary, Research on Modern and Contemporary Shandong Urban Culture, Ten Years of a Dream, The Daughters of the Dessert Shop, and Checking In to the Ming Dynasty. As public information is limited, further verification of his biography and creative periods is needed, but his existing works show sustained commitment to both literary creation and cultural studies.

Wang Shiyao Author

Wang Shiyao is an author about whom limited public information is available, and two of her works are currently included in the database. Her representative work is You Can't Find Nothing, Only What You Haven't Thought Of, part of the "Read a Little Every Day, Make a Little Progress Every Day" series. The set comprises twelve volumes and covers encyclopedic knowledge in culture, art, history, war, philosophy, folklore, and Chinese classical studies, and is commonly classified under social culture, culture, and social sciences. Judging from its subject matter, the series is aimed at general readers as a work of popular knowledge: it organizes scattered humanities material into short chapters suited to daily, incremental reading, emphasizing breadth and readability rather than specialized in-depth argument. As biographical details about the author have not been made public, her personal background and writing career cannot be described in detail; readers can mainly learn about her approach to popularizing knowledge through this series.

Qi Xuancong Author

Qi Xuancong is an author about whom limited public information is available. Three works are known under this name, centering on history, historical fiction, and social culture. Among them, Rebirth in a Foreign Land: King of the Three Kingdoms in Chaos combines a time-travel premise with historical romance, blending the turbulent Three Kingdoms setting with adventure in a foreign land, and belongs to popular historical fiction. Another representative work, Nothing Is Unfindable, Only Unthinkable, is part of the "Read a Little Every Day, Improve a Little Every Day" series. In boxed-set form it covers encyclopedic material on culture, art, history, war, philosophy, folklore, and Chinese studies, reflecting an orientation toward knowledge popularization for general readers. Qi Xuancong's writing thus appears to span both fictional narrative and general cultural reading, using historical themes for imaginative storytelling on the one hand and short, installment-based essays to spread humanistic knowledge on the other. Since birth and death dates, nationality, and personal experience cannot be verified, a fuller picture of this author's work awaits more material.

李妍 Author · Chinese

Li Yan, a native of Shandong, graduated from the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has been engaged in book writing and publishing for more than ten years, mainly in popular science, personal finance, and foreign-language translation. Her works span a wide range of subjects. For younger readers she has produced history titles such as the youth edition of Comics on the Twenty-Four Histories and the "Chinese History Painted for Children" series, which present major events and outstanding figures through words and pictures. She has also written popular science books including Physics Is So Much Fun and Chemistry Is So Much Fun, as well as practical guides such as A Guide to Disaster Prevention, Risk Avoidance, and Self-Rescue for Everyone. In addition, she has contributed to the translation of foreign literature and to medical writing on hypertension prevention and treatment, and has published works on classical poetry and trading rules. Her writing emphasizes combining knowledge with readability, aiming to convey information to readers of different ages in an accessible way. Due to limited public information, details of her life and her English name are not available.

周瑾 Author

Only limited information about Zhou Jin is publicly available, and their nationality, dates of birth and death, and professional background cannot yet be confirmed. Judging from the two works held in the collection, Zhou Jin's writing spans the fields of medicine and politics, an unusual range of subjects. One of these, Appropriate TCM Nursing Techniques for Tumors, is a medical work focusing on appropriate traditional Chinese medicine techniques in tumor nursing; it is oriented toward clinical nursing practice and has considerable professional and practical reference value. The other, Reflections and Practice of a School Grassroots Party Secretary, is a political work that considers the daily work of a school's grassroots Party organization and records practical experience in the post of grassroots secretary. The two works differ markedly in subject: the former emphasizes professional technique, while the latter emphasizes grassroots governance and practical summary. Both are pragmatic in style, stressing the organization of experience and practical application. Because public information is limited, the author's education, positions, and specific experience cannot be added at present; readers may consult the two works above to understand Zhou Jin's writing interests.