Collection of the Empty Boat

王偁Jun 2024

3.5

Word count: 40K words
Chapters: 19

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought and culture have a long history and are highly original, inventive, and literary. Early intellectual forms are especially distinctive: religious theology, classical texts of Chinese medicine, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and the Hundred Schools, feng shui and metaphysical learning, the Twenty-Four Histories, customs and local gazetteers—all are profound and extensive. This "Essence of Classical Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on conserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers cultivate character and quietly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Compiled by Wang Cheng of the Ming dynasty, The Vessel of Emptiness (Xuzhou ji) belongs to the "Essence of Classical Chinese Culture: Original Texts" series and is a traditional individual literary collection. It preserves the original book's appearance and is intended to sustain and transmit the traditional text. Wang Cheng was a man of letters of the early Ming; the title "empty boat" evokes the image of an unmoored boat drifting where it will, and the collection consists mainly of prose and poetry, allowing readers to encounter directly the writing style and diction of early Ming literati. Its strength is a version policy that favors authenticity, making it suitable as primary material for the study of classical literature and textual culture rather than a popular anthology. Readers should combine it with the literary background of the early Ming and biographical materials on the author to better understand its subjects and sentiments. Because it presents the original text, annotations and introductory guidance are relatively limited, and beginners may find it remote. Overall, this is a collection best read closely, selectively, and alongside related documents—suited to readers with some grounding in classical Chinese who wish to savor it.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of classical literature studying Ming poetry and prose who need direct access to the original text of an individual collection
Readers with a foundation in classical Chinese who enjoy the works of Ming and Qing literati
Researchers consulting documentary materials for the collation or textual study of ancient books
Readers interested in traditional culture who wish to understand the writing style of early Ming literati

Not a good fit for

Beginners who struggle with classical Chinese and need sentence-by-sentence annotation and vernacular translation
Readers who prefer modern fiction and essays and seek light, entertaining reading
Exam-oriented learners who hope to grasp literary history quickly through introductory guidance

Reading tips

First consult Wang Cheng's biography and the early Ming literary background; the original text is easier to enter with that context.
Do not feel obliged to read everything; select pieces by genre or theme for close reading and annotation.
Keep a classical Chinese dictionary and related literary histories at hand for reference while reading.
After reading, try to summarize recurring themes and diction in the collection and form your own reading notes.

版权信息
提要
虚舟集原序
重刋虚舟集序
虚舟集巻一
五言古诗
虚舟集巻二
五言古诗
虚舟集巻三
五言古诗
七言古诗
虚舟集巻四
五言排律
五言律诗
五言絶句
虚舟集巻五
七言律诗
七言絶句
七言排律

FAQ

What does the title The Vessel of Emptiness mean?

"Empty boat" alludes to the image of an unmoored boat drifting with the waves, often used by literati to express detachment, ease, and freedom from attachment. Wang Cheng's choice of it as a collection title carries a note of self-description. Understanding this layer of meaning helps grasp the tone of the poems and prose and the author's frame of mind, though individual pieces still require close reading of the original text.

Does this book include annotations and vernacular translation?

According to the materials, this series focuses on preserving the original books' appearance and transmitting traditional texts rather than popularizing them, so annotations and vernacular translation are relatively limited. Readers with weaker classical Chinese will need their own reference works or related annotated editions, reading mainly by verification and comparison.

How should a beginner choose pieces from a classical literary collection?

Begin with short poems or essays whose themes are clear, avoiding pieces dense with allusions and complex background. When a piece resonates, look further into the author's life and writing context, gradually building a feel for the language. You need not read straight through; selective reading plus close reading is often more effective than forcing your way through the whole book.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

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

王偁 Author

Wang Cheng is an author whose biographical information is very limited in publicly available sources. The surviving traces mainly center on a single work attributed to him, the Xu Zhou Ji (Collection of the Empty Boat). The book is classified under literary appreciation, suggesting that its contents lean toward the reading, analysis, and aesthetic evaluation of literary works rather than original composition or historical compilation. Judging from the imagery of the title, the empty boat, the author seems to have used a Zhuangzi-like metaphor of emptiness to express his state of mind, and the style may tend toward quiet restraint, with attention to atmosphere and personal reflection. Since his birth and death dates, native place, and official career cannot be confirmed, it is difficult to reconstruct his full life, and excessive speculation about his experience would be inappropriate. For today's readers, Wang Cheng's value lies mainly in the appreciative perspective and literary interest presented in the Xu Zhou Ji, which can serve as a concrete example for understanding the tradition of classical literary criticism and merits careful reading in close engagement with the text.