Author's Preface

艾南英Jun 2024

Rating 3.6
Word count
4.2K words
Chapters
3

Tags

Eastern Philosophy Historical ReappraisalPortrait GalleryPatriotismAcademic StudyIntellectual Commentary

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is highly original, inventive, and literary. Early forms of thought have distinctive features: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military treatises, Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, and Hundred Schools thought, feng shui and metaphysics, the Twenty-Four Histories, and customs and local gazetteers are all profound and extensive. This series, "Essence of Chinese Classics: Original Texts," preserves the original appearance of the books and focuses on preserving and spreading traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers cultivate character and subtly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

This book is a self-written preface by Ai Nanying, included in the "Essence of Chinese Classics: Original Texts" series, which preserves the original appearance of the book and focuses on preserving and spreading traditional Chinese thought and culture. A self-preface typically explains the occasion for writing, the aims of the work, and the author's scholarly orientation, and is an entry point for understanding the author's collected works and the literary style of the period. Ai Nanying was a renowned Ming dynasty master of examination essays, and his preface is valuable for understanding criticism of eight-legged essays, rules of composition, and literati views on writing. Though short, it reveals the author's self-positioning and literary views, and is suitable as an introduction to his collected works or as close-reading material for the genre of classical prefaces and postscripts. Readers should understand it in the context of Ming civil examinations and classical prose, and should not expect a full biography or systematic theory.

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Reading tips

  1. First learn about Ai Nanying's period and the examination-essay background, then read the preface closely for its self-description and literary views.
  2. Underline sentences that state the occasion for writing, the aims of the work, and self-assessment, and add brief notes.
  3. Read alongside prefaces by contemporaries to compare common modesty formulas, lineage, and views of style.
  4. The text is short; read it twice: first for general meaning, then to look up allusions and personal relationships.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 自序
  3. 注释

FAQ

What can mainly be learned from this self-preface? A self-preface usually explains the occasion for writing, the aims of the work, and the author's self-positioning. Readers should note how the author describes his scholarly orientation, intellectual lineage, and views on style; this information helps in understanding his collected works and the literary style of the period.
Can I read it without knowing about Ai Nanying? You can read it, but understanding will be limited. It is advisable to first look up basic knowledge about Ming civil examinations, eight-legged essays, and classical prose schools, then return to the preface and pay attention to its self-descriptive statements; do not try to pin down every allusion at the start.
Is this book a complete collected works? From the materials, this book is a single text, "Self-Preface," in the original Chinese classics series, not a complete collected works. To study Ai Nanying's writings as a whole, consult his collected works or related edited editions separately.

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About the author

艾南英 Author

Ai Nanying is an author whose biographical information is extremely limited in publicly available sources. The main clues currently visible come from a single work included in the book database, Self-Preface (Zixu). According to existing records, Ai Nanying has only this one work listed, commonly classified under Eastern philosophy, with Self-Preface also marked as the representative work. Since information such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and English name has not been clearly recorded, further details about the author's life experience and academic background cannot be confirmed; public materials are indeed limited. Based on the available material, the focus should be on the subject matter and writing style of the work itself. The title Self-Preface suggests content that may be autobiographical or prefatory in nature, possibly involving the author's account of the origins of the writing and the development of their thought, leaning toward personal statement in form. Its classification under Eastern philosophy indicates that the work is closer to discussion at the level of thought and doctrine rather than pure literary creation or historical compilation. Readers may treat Self-Preface as an entry point for understanding Ai Nanying's writing intentions and intellectual concerns, but should not make excessive inferences about the person or the scholarship.