Collected Works of Ruan Ji
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Summary
Editor's review
Ruan Ji lived at the time of the Wei-Jin transition, and his works display both the metaphysical speculation and reflections on life characteristic of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" and, through oblique and convoluted writing, his grief and indignation over the political situation. The Yonghuai series opened the way in Chinese poetry for expressing complex states of mind through sequences of poems and exerted a profound influence on later poets from Tao Yuanming and Chen Zi'ang to Li Bai. While maintaining scholarly rigor, Ni Qixin's annotated edition also takes ordinary readers' needs into account: the annotations are concise and to the point, helping readers cross the barrier of a thousand years of diction and directly experience Ruan Ji's spiritual world of "grief and sorrow that wound the heart alone" and his rebellious air of "how could ritual propriety be made for me?"
What makes this edition particularly recommendable is its balance: it is neither an overly simplified popular reader nor burdened with excessively elaborate textual criticism, but offers a reliable, clear and complete text. For readers who wish to read Ruan Ji's original works systematically and gain a preliminary understanding of the man and his times, this is a very suitable starting point.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Lovers of classical literature interested in Wei-Jin literature and thought
- Readers who wish to understand more deeply the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" and the Wei-Jin ethos
- Students of Chinese literature or scholars who need to study Ruan Ji
- Readers who enjoy an implicit, profound and deeply evocative poetic style
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking light entertainment or strongly plot-driven stories
- Complete beginners unfamiliar with classical Chinese who lack the patience to read annotations
Reading tips
- Begin with the "Preface" or "Publication Note" at the front to understand the editor's intentions and the book's format
- When reading the Yonghuai poems, do not feel compelled to understand everything at once; choose pieces to read closely according to your own mood and savor their complex emotions
- Reading essays such as "Biography of Master Great Man" alongside the poems will give a more comprehensive grasp of Ruan Ji's thought of "transcending established moral doctrine and following nature"
About the publisher
Phoenix Books, Ltd. specializes in collating and publishing Chinese classics in literature, history, and philosophy, along with related academic works. Its publishing areas cover ancient poetry, classical literature, folk literature, literary appreciation, medicine, and Eastern philosophy, forming distinctive sectors in classical text collation, historical documents, and academic research. Its catalogue includes poetry collections such as The Collected Works of Su Shi, Li Bai, Xin Qiji, and Wang Wei; classical drama and fiction such as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and The Injustice to Dou E; and scholarly editions such as the Collated Edition of Zhouhou Beiji Fang (2 volumes) and An Introduction to the Study of Chinese Texts Abroad (Revised Edition). Its author resources include scholars such as An Pingqiu, Zhang Peiheng, Ma Zhanggen, Zeng Zaozhuang, Yu Xianhao, and Yang Zhong, as well as classic writers such as Pu Songling and Guan Hanqing.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 导读
- 咏怀诗（八十二首选三十六）
- 其一（夜中不能寐）
- 其二（二妃游江滨）
- 其三（嘉树下成蹊）
- 其四（天马出西北）
- 其五（平生少年时）
- 其六（昔闻东陵瓜）
- 其八（灼灼西颓日）
- 其九（步出上东门）
- 其十一（湛湛长江水）
- 其十二（昔日繁华子）
- 其十三（登高临四野）
- 其十四（开秋兆凉气）
- 其十五（昔年十四五）
- 其十六（徘徊蓬池上）
- 其十七（独坐空堂上）
- 其十九（西方有佳人）
- 其二十（杨朱泣歧路）
- 其二十一（于心怀寸阴）
- 其二十二（夏后乘灵舆）
- 其二十五（拔剑临白刃）
- 其三十一（驾言发魏都）
- 其三十二（朝阳不再盛）
- 其三十三（一日复一夕）
- 其三十八（炎光延万里）
- 其三十九（壮士何慷慨）
- 其四十三（鸿鹄相随飞）
- 其五十四（夸谈快愤懑）
- 其五十七（惊风振四野）
- 其五十八（危冠切浮云）
- 其六十（儒者通六艺）
- 其六十一（少年学击刺）
- 其六十七（洪生资制度）
- 其七十（有悲则有情）
- 其七十四（猗欤上世士）
- 其七十九（林中有奇鸟）
- 其八十二（墓前荧荧者）
- 亢父赋
- 达《庄》论
- 大人先生传
- 中华文史名著精选精译精注（全民阅读版）
FAQ
How does this edition differ from other annotated editions of Ruan Ji, such as Chen Bojun's Collated and Annotated Ruan Ji Collection?
What background knowledge is needed to read Ruan Ji's poetry and prose?
How should one approach the eighty-two Yonghuai poems?
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About the author
Ni Qixin is an important scholar in the field of Chinese classical text editing and classical literature studies. Public information about him is limited, and his dates of birth and death, place of origin, and educational background have not been confirmed. Judging from the eight works included in the collection, his work centers on the editing, selected annotation, and appreciation of ancient Chinese poetry and prose collections. His representative works include edited editions of famous authors' collections such as The Collected Works of Liu Yuxi, The Collected Works of Du Fu, The Collected Works of Ji Kang, The Collected Works of Ruan Ji, and The Collected Works of Yuan Mei, as well as An Outline of Textual Criticism, a work discussing methods of collating ancient texts. He is also the author of New Studies on Han Dynasty Poetry and Understanding Classical Poetry and Prose (two volumes), works devoted to textual interpretation and the history of poetry. These works mostly fall into the categories of ancient poetry, miscellaneous prose, literary appreciation, and classic works. His writing is grounded in solid documentary scholarship, combining annotation with interpretation; it serves both specialized study and general readers approaching classical poetry and prose, making a sustained contribution to the popularization and transmission of classical literature.
Liu Renqing is an author about whom limited public information is available. What can be confirmed is that Liu served as one of the reviewers for the series Selected Masterpieces of Chinese Literature and History with Translations and Annotations (National Reading Edition). The series was planned by the National Committee for the Collation and Study of Ancient Books in Higher Education Institutions under the Ministry of Education, edited by Zhang Peiheng and others, and published by Phoenix Publishing House in 2020. Liu reviewed several annotated selections of ancient texts, including The Collected Works of Zhang Heng, The Collected Works of Ruan Ji, The Collected Works of Li He, and The Collected Works of the Three Caos, covering classic writers from the Han-Wei period to the mid-Tang. Judging from the scope of this reviewing work, it is aimed at general readers and emphasizes the representativeness of selected pieces and the accuracy and accessibility of annotations and translations, making works by masters such as Zhang Heng, Ruan Ji, and Li He easier for modern readers to approach. Such annotated selections combine literary appreciation with intellectual interpretation and also touch on themes of Eastern philosophy, giving them a certain representative place among popular editions of ancient texts.
Zhang Peiheng (1934–2011), a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, was an outstanding professor at Fudan University and a renowned historian of literature and expert in the collation of ancient texts. He graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan University in 1954 and stayed on to teach, later serving as head of the department, director of the Research Center for Ancient Chinese Literature, and director of the Institute of Ancient Books. He devoted himself to the study of ancient Chinese literature while also working on modern literature, co-edited A History of Chinese Literature and A New History of Chinese Literature with Luo Yuming, and wrote such works as A Chronological Biography of Hong Sheng and Collected Doubts. His works include annotated collections of Su Shi, Xin Qiji, Wang Wei, Li Bai, Lu You, and Wang Anshi, as well as reference works such as the Dictionary of Chinese Literature and the Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese Literature, History, and Philosophy, spanning ancient poetry, literary appreciation, and biography. He exerted a profound influence on the study of literary history and the collation of ancient texts.
An Pingqiu, born in Beijing in 1941 and of Manchu ethnicity, is a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University and a scholar of classical Chinese texts. He has long been engaged in the collation and study of ancient books, focusing mainly on pre-Qin and Han texts and on Chinese rare books held overseas. He is the author of A Brief Account of Editions of the Records of the Grand Historian and the chief editor of selected Song and Yuan editions of Chinese rare books held by the Imperial Household Agency's Bureau of Books and Archives in Japan. He also served for many years as director of the National Committee for the Collation and Study of Ancient Books in Higher Education Institutions under the Ministry of Education, and is one of the chief compilers of the essential edition of the Confucian Canon. His 33 works in the collection center on classical poetry, covering major poets such as Su Shi, Wang Wei, Xin Qiji, Lu You, Li Bai, Wang Anshi, Han Yu and Li Shangyin, and fall under classical poetry, literary appreciation and biography. These works emphasize anthology arrangement and guided reading in plain language, helping readers approach classical poetry while reflecting his textual scholarship.
