A Garden of One's Own：A Collection of Modern Chinese Essays, 1919-1949

This authoritative collection contains writings by some thirty of the most significant Chinese writers of the period between 1919 and 1949. The three decades from which these pieces are drawn encompass most of the Republican period, a tumultuous era in Chinese history in which modernization and republicanism coexisted with classical culture. Thematically, these xiaopin wen, or modern Chinese essays, differ significantly from the more social and political fiction of the May Fourth movement. Their scope varies, from ruminations on broader existential issues to more personal contemplations on everyday life, often delving into issues of morality and interpersonal relations. Although described as "essays," they are not restrained by the formal, expository connotations of this English term; rather, their tone is more intimate, reflective, and at times witty or tinged with melancholy.

TAM KING-FAI earned his BA in English and MPhil in Comparative Literature from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and MA and PhD in East Asian Studies from Princeton University. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Chinese Culture of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Earlier, he taught for nearly two decades at Trinity College, Connecticut, US and served as the Associate Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Tam’s erudite introduction situates the modern genre of xiaopin wen in the context of modern Chinese cultural thought as well as of Chinese literature in general, quite necessary for this traditionally resonant yet distinctively modern genre. The excellent selections illustrate the introduction’s explorations of the genre’s unique aesthetics, and span the genre’s development from the 1920s to the 1940s. Tam translates the works into fluid and idiomatic English that yet does full justice to the subtleties of the original texts. — Charles Laughlin, Weedon Chair in Asian Studies, University of Virginia

This volume features an exquisite translated collection of modern Chinese xiaopin wen, a genre defined by the translator as “creative, personal, meditative prose about everyday experience.” The xiaopin wen was highly developed in the first half of the twentieth century, and writers better known in other genres like poets, novelists, playwrights, and scholars have also contributed to its development. The representativeness of selections by a literary scholar and the simple style of translations reflect the essence of the genre at both word and sense levels. — Chu Chi-yu, Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Introduction 1
Essays 39
Lu Xun 41
The Kite 42
Xia Mianzun 45
A Memory 46
Winter at White Horse Lake 49
Zhou Zuoren 51
Black-Canopied Boats 52
First Love 55
Bitter Rain 57
Xu Dishan 61
Undelivered Letters (Three Selections) 62
Ye Shengtao 67
Random Reminiscences (Two Selections) 68
Moon-watching 73
Lin Yutang 75
Ah Fang 76
Buying Birds 80
Zhang Henshui 85
Checkers 86
Mao Dun 89
Before the Storm 90
vi Table of Contents
Xu Zhimo 93
Idle Talk About Life in the Mountains of Florence 94
Thoughts of Flying 97
Yu Dafu 103
My Humble Shelter from Wind and Rain: A Chronicle 104
Su Xuelin 107
In My Moments of Dejection (Two Selections) 108
Feng Zikai 115
Children 116
A Mean Alleyway 121
Seeking Shelter from the Rain in the Mountains 126
Lu Yin 129
Thorns on the Rosebush 130
Zheng Zhenduo 133
The Pleasures of Food and Wine 134
Zhu Ziqing 139
Looking for a Mate 140
Random Notes on Sea Travel 143
Lao She 151
Winter in Jinan 152
Bing Xin 155
The Smile 156
The Treasure That Will Always Be with Us 158
Yu Pingbo 163
West Lake on the Evening of the Eighteenth Day
of the Sixth Month 164
Going to the City 171
Fang Lingru 173
Home 174
Liang Shiqiu 177
Middle Age 178
The Send-off 182
Travel 186
Table of Contents vii
Zhu Xiang 191
Books 192
Ba Jin 195
Outside the Garden Ruins 196
Ye Lingfeng 199
The Weary Sound of the Fiddle 200
Li Guangtian 203
Mountains and Water 204
Two Thoughts 209
Liang Yuchun 213
Tears and Laughter 214
On the Road 218
Wu Boxiao 225
Conversations at Night 226
Lu Li 233
The Water Pestle 234
Greenery Imprisoned 237
Qian Zhongshu 241
Windows 242
He Qifang 247
Old Men 248
Hunger 254
Su Qing 261
Sweet Bean Cakes 262
My Hand 268
Zhang Ailing 271
Love 272
My Little Brother 273
Works Cited 275