The Firefly Lamp

Xu DishanMay 2024

4.1

Word count: 53K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Gathering representative short stories from different periods of the author’s career—including “Firefly Lantern,” “The Gills of the Iron Fish,” “Within the Sea,” “A Brief Drop from a Perilous Nest,” and “The Lone Star at the Cape”—Firefly Lantern reflects the fate of ordinary families toyed with by the times. The author’s lucid prose softens the stories’ tragic tone and shapes a distinctive Eastern cultural philosophy.

The book appeals to a wide readership. Whether you feel lost in life, uncertain about the future, or perplexed about how to conduct yourself, you can find illumination in these works.

For readers interested in Xu Dishan, this is an indispensable collection. It is required reading for teachers and students and a life classic worth reading for those entering society. These collected classics serve both as leisure reading and as material for literary study.

Editor's review

Firefly Lamp is a collection of representative fiction by Xu Dishan, including such pieces as "Firefly Lamp," "The Gills of the Iron Fish," "Within the Sea," "The Fallen Slip from a Perilous Nest," and "The Lone Star of the Sea's Edge." These works mostly tell of the fates of ordinary families toyed with by their times; the stories themselves have a tragic undertone, but the author's prose is fresh and unhurried, diluting the desolation somewhat and forming a distinctive Eastern cultural philosophy. This technique of "writing deep pain with limpid simplicity" is the most rewarding aspect of Xu Dishan's work, and it also gives the book a fairly wide readership: those who feel lost in life, at a loss about the future, or perplexed about how to conduct themselves can all draw inspiration from it. As a collection, it can be read for entertainment or used for literary study; it is a suitable reader for teachers and students, and for those who have entered society it is likewise a life classic worth reading. There is no need to rush when reading; savoring the thought behind the words one piece at a time better brings out the flavor.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Xu Dishan's work who want to read his fiction systematically
Young people in a period of life confusion who hope to draw inspiration from literature
Teachers and students needing a modern-contemporary literature anthology for teaching or self-study
Readers who like fresh prose and Eastern philosophical thought and prefer short pieces

Not a good fit for

Readers pursuing strong plot conflict and fast-paced narrative
Readers who want only light comedy and dislike tragic undertones
Readers with little patience for modern literary style who prefer popular web fiction

Reading tips

Read through in the order of the pieces once, then pick the ones that moved you most to reread and savor
As you read, notice the tension between the fresh prose and the tragic stories, and make brief notes
Can be read alongside Xu Dishan's other prose works to appreciate the continuity of his style
Compare the characters' situations with your own perplexities and write down a few thoughts on your reading

版权信息
黄昏后
萤灯
危巢坠简
一、给少华
二、给樾人
三、覆成仁
海角的孤星
无法投递之邮件
给诵幼
给贞蕤
给小峦
答劳云
给琰光
给憬然三姑
给爽君夫妇
覆诵幼
覆真龄
给怀䨝
覆少觉
给怜生
答寒光
给华妙
枯杨生花
债
慕
铁鱼的腮
海世间

FAQ

Is this book suitable for students' extracurricular reading?

Yes. The book collects several representative stories by Xu Dishan; the prose is fresh and the pieces are moderate in length, so it can be read for entertainment or used for literary study, and it is a suitable reader for both teachers and students. It is advisable to use it with annotations and classroom explanation, focusing on appreciating his prose style and the thought behind the stories.

The stories are mostly tragic—will reading them feel too heavy?

The stories do mostly tell of the fates of ordinary families toyed with by their times and carry a tragic coloring, but the author's prose is fresh and dilutes the desolation, forming a distinctive Eastern cultural philosophy. The reading experience is not oppressive but sorrowful without being wounding, suited to quiet, slow reading.

I haven't read Xu Dishan—is it suitable to start with this book?

Yes. It is a collection of representative fiction from his various periods, with fairly broad coverage, and it presents his fictional style relatively completely, making it a convenient entry point for readers new to Xu Dishan. If you are interested afterward, you can go on to read his prose works.

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About the author

Xu Dishan Author · Chinese · 1893–1941

Xu Dishan (1893–1941), whose given name was Zan Kun and whose pen name was Luo Huasheng, was born in Tainan, Taiwan, with ancestral roots in Jieyang, Guangdong. A modern writer and scholar, he was one of the founders of the Literary Research Society and taught at Yenching University and the University of Hong Kong. His essays are lucid and understated, while his fiction draws on real life and blends social realism with philosophical reflection. His representative works include the essay "Peanuts" and the novels "The Spider's Web" and "Spring Peach." This collection holds 56 of his works, spanning classics, literary appreciation, essays and miscellaneous writings, and social fiction, including public-domain editions of "Empty Mountain, Spiritual Rain," "The Spider's Web," and "Spring Peach," as well as the scholarly work "A Prehistory of Daoism," reflecting his dual achievement in creative writing and scholarship.