About the author
Xu Fei's life is now difficult to trace. Publicly available sources are very limited, and no reliable record has been found for his courtesy name, place of origin, or dates of birth and death, so only a rough outline can be drawn from his surviving works. Among the works attributed to Xu Fei, the representative one is Qiaotan (Woodcutter's Talks), and the library holds one work by him. Judging from the title and content, Qiaotan belongs to the category of miscellaneous notes and discussions, conveying observations through the leisurely talk of a woodcutter; its language is plain and its meaning clear, and it carries the flavor of traditional note-and-miscellany writing. Such texts usually do not aim at grand scale but rather reveal insight and temperament in brief remarks, allowing readers to sense the author's attitude toward observing things and discussing affairs. Because the documents are scattered, Xu Fei's place in literary history is not prominent, and his associations, experiences, and complete writings await further investigation; Qiaotan, as the currently identifiable representative work, is the main basis for understanding his writing style and intellectual inclinations.