Floating World

Name: Floating World
ISBN: 9787545563047

浮石TIANDI PRESS · ChinaMay 2026

3.7

Word count: 75K words
Chapters: 34
ISBN: 9787545563047

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Summary

The ways of the world in light and shadow, the rise and fall of the human heart in words. A witty illustrated work by the renowned writer Fushi, following Blue Porcelain and Red Sleeves! Echoing the spirit of Feng Zikai and Huang Yongyu, these ink-and-wash vignettes portray the myriad facets of life and the floating world. All pieces are essays, in four parts: "The Road I Came By," "Amid the Dust of the World," "Asking the Heart," and "A Dialogue with Fushi." In these pages he shares his life experience and reflections, conveying wisdom to younger readers through profound thought and lively, engaging language. All illustrations are from Fushi's own paintings.

Editor's review

After the novels Blue Porcelain and Red Sleeves, Fushi turns to a combination of essays and ink-and-wash painting; the book reads like a middle-aged man's notebook on the ways of the world. Its four parts—"The Road I Came By," "Amid the Dust of the World," "Asking the Heart," and "A Dialogue with Fushi"—build one upon another, moving from looking back at the road traveled to facing the world directly, then turning inward to ask the heart, and closing with dialogue; the structure itself has the rhythm of self-reflection. The writing is short and distilled, paired with the author's own ink paintings; text and image form an intertext, easy to read yet lingering. It offers no systematic life plan, but lays out the author's experience and insights in vignette-like strokes—suited to dipping into in spare moments, and equally to concentrated reading at a stage of life when one needs to pause and think. Readers who enjoy the text-and-image style of Feng Zikai and Huang Yongyu will find a similar temperament here, though it leans more toward the contemporary urban observer's view of the world and self-examination.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy short essays and illustrated text-image books
Middle-aged readers interested in life experience and the ways of the human heart
Readers of Fushi's novels curious about his essays and paintings
Those seeking light yet lingering reading in a fast-paced life

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting continuous plot or novelistic narrative
Readers seeking systematic life guidance or psychological self-help
Those uninterested in ink illustrations and short-essay form

Reading tips

Need not be read in order; begin at "Asking the Heart" and return to "The Road I Came By"
Pause after each short piece to reflect on your own experience; no need to rush
Treat the illustrations as part of the text; comparing image and word often yields extra meaning
Keep it by the bed or on the coffee table and read a few pieces at a time

About the publisher

TIANDI PRESS China · Founded in 1995

Founded in 1995, Tiandi Press focuses on thematic publishing, history and culture, literary works, self-help psychology, and books for young readers. Judging from the 121 titles in our database, the press has a notable strength in foreign literature and classic works: it publishes Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country, The Old Capital, and The Izu Dancer, as well as The Last Words, a collection of short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Joseph Roth's The Radetzky March, and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. In history, it offers Jiang Tingfu's Modern Chinese History, while social novels and social-cultural titles come from authors such as Luo Luo and Cao Yinghua. The presence of Effective Argumentation: The Most Practical Logic Training Course in American Universities also reflects the press's interest in logic training and self-help. Public information is limited, and the above reflects its publishing profile only through the titles in our database.

版权信息
序言关于浮石的三言两语
来时路
那些胖胖的小娃娃
两代文学青年
北湖的“罩儿神”
阁楼的记忆
麓山会
自己的崽别人带
夏天的院子里有棵大树
如果有来生，我希望成为妈妈的妈妈
父辈的精神
我的童年
我的长沙故事
身在尘世
中国人的面子
论权力
论财富
论名声
贪财与贪色
我的地盘谁做主
谁是谁的房奴
性越多越安全吗
问心
我的忏悔
从作家到卖酒郎
艺术价值更应该取决于思想与情感
我的绘画野心
对话浮石
肖友惠对话浮石
简以宁对话浮石
连辑谈浮石绘话
王鲁湘谈浮石绘话
朱训德谈浮石绘话

FAQ

Is this book a novel or essays?

It is an essay collection, not a novel. The book is divided into four parts—"The Road I Came By," "Amid the Dust of the World," "Asking the Heart," and "A Dialogue with Fushi"—collecting Fushi's essays with his own ink paintings; it is an illustrated essay work.

Will not having read Blue Porcelain or Red Sleeves affect my reading?

It will not. This is an independent essay collection, centered on the author's life experience and observations of the world; it does not depend on the plots or characters of the earlier novels. Readers of the novels may feel closer to the man and his thought, but that is not a prerequisite.

What style are the illustrations?

All illustrations are from Fushi's own paintings, in an ink-and-wash style. Materials frame the book as an illustrated witty work in the lineage of Feng Zikai, echoing Huang Yongyu; the images and the written vignettes work together to present the myriad facets of life and the floating world.

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About the author

浮石 Author

Fu Shi: publicly available information is limited, so this sketch can only be drawn from the six works published under this name. Fu Shi writes mainly social fiction, with forays into essays and miscellaneous prose as well as war and military themes. Representative works include Qing Ci (Celadon), New Celadon (2 volumes), Hong Xiu (Red Sleeves), Zao Xiang (Soap Fragrance, 2 volumes), Fu Shi (Floating World), and Chinese-Style Relationships. Judging from the titles and categories, Fu Shi tends to begin with everyday human feelings and social appearances, weaving business rivalry, interpersonal maneuvering, and ordinary urban life together. The style is realistic, with attention to character relationships and plot development, and carries a strong sense of social observation. Though the number of works is not large, they span long-form narrative and prose essays, showing a fairly broad range of material. Since details of the author's life and background are not found in public sources, no speculation is offered here; readers wishing to understand Fu Shi's writing may begin with the works themselves and sense the sustained attention to social reality and human nature.