Collected Works of Non-Action

Wúwéi Jí is a collection compiled by the author from decades of his own poetry and photography, running to thousands of pieces. Travel is the dominant subject, and the landscapes and historic sites described, at home and abroad, are rich and varied. The author's reasoning: having enjoyed these sights himself, would it not be a waste of the journey to keep them from others? And having accumulated a growing pile of travel poems, why leave them buried in a folder? Hence this book, which pairs the poems with photographs taken along the way. The stock of work is so large that publication had to be divided into volumes. The poems were essentially left unselected, generally arranged in the order the subjects arose. After the first volume (320 poems), the next 335 poems were taken in sequence and matched with suitable photographs for this second volume. The author loved Tang and Song poetry as a student; unable to continue his schooling, he was unwilling to let the matter rest and kept studying on his own. He had no master to guide him, but was fortunate to find Wang Li's Prosody of Classical Chinese Poetry as his basis. Its explanations are detailed enough for a beginner, its analysis clear, its requirements strict, and Wang Li was an eminent scholar whose authority could be trusted; over the years the author has benefited greatly from self-study. He learned while trying his hand at composition, adhering strictly to the metrical rules, and gradually mastered the art. In troubled times he also wrote a good deal. He loves travel, and after retiring, fortunate to live in prosperous times, he resolved while his health allowed to take at least three or four trips a year, hoping to see as much as possible of his country's and the world's famous sights in his remaining years and satisfy his urge to travel. Over more than a decade he has visited over twenty provinces at home and more than twenty countries abroad.