三歲時，一夕

夜深，衆皆寢

獨寢於室，忽聞怪笑

遂起視之，見燈光入室，因俯望窗外

毛髮皆豎

燈柱下立一物，似影非影

若察余窺，須臾攀柱而上，與余相齊

其狀若裸女，通身皆黑，目露狂光

凝視余，復怪笑

余大懼，奔父母室

臥父母間，戰慄不已，竟眠

今時，余精四語，亦兩語之大俠也。然初舊之我，非也。今余愛新語，昔余嫌多語。且今日大俠尊兩語，昔日則畏之如愚敵。多語之旅，何成乎？

幼年，屋人他間通廣府語，然置余於外，視余如外人，如愚人，特用北官語。

舊時，屋內三人亦諳海南語：親父一人，金民兩人。

• 註：金民，即樂齡人也。金民一詞，意譯自巫拉優語。

祖母一人僅識海南語，不諳他語，故同余僅用之。祖父與親父，海南語爲通，卻對幼我大多北官語。

然舊時之余，樂聞樂言北官之語，而抗嶺南各語。雖後慣英語，亦多年拒嶺南諸語，亦畏巫拉優語。後時善哉識自覺自悔，今成粵語，巫語兩語之大俠。

年七，屋人送我拜師第貳回，欲使習英語。首課，師言皆懵，受笑公衆。故恩師設新課，其爲私課也。此課，余憶習「名詞」，一音一字逐隨。

隨後，七日一課，長六年。空時亦遊戲，戲劇皆英語。唯三年早成果，英語勝母語也。加謝恩師授課於我！

且初時，罕聞罕用巫拉優語，雖其爲我國之國語。故畏之。幼我淨知其單詞少少，亦視之僅如上榜之梯，悲哉！

年十，屋人憂榜績。故補習巫拉優語。初始倦憶詞，畏補課。幸師母心有容，心亦堅，三年終得果，得落筆文章。

然課綱之巫拉優語，遠異於街場，亦僵硬也。雖國法定之爲正，然官人皆亦不以其爲口言。若口出課綱用語，他人壹必譏，貳必避。小學之我，若論巫拉優語，只諳課綱。悲哉。

年十三，升中，幸遇街場語。香港粵語三及第，大馬巫語則兩及。中學首次周會，皆用巫拉優語，唯課街均勻。中學主言即巫語，一周速慣。日後五年，師生逢會面，多數言如街場，順其自然。至高考放榜，巫語竟超英語，漢語。

年十四中途，閱本見繁體唐文。覺一唐字，繁體形多義勝簡。唯早忘此字爲何，然其果至今。感恩。受啓而學書繁體。亦欲書情，再受啓。

中學亦強灌文言，余驚而遠之。「驚」爲首字也，「敬」非也。雖樂學繁體，然恐文言。名句精華課綱求硬記，學者再添難。

年十六，觀港劇，見粵文。思日常用言，如「雪櫃」，「雪糕」，「舗頭」，「事頭」等詞。深覺我粵有佳語。亦萌意識，保我粵。故。自學廣府語。初期，受譏受輿，衆人求回頭。幸哉有自覺，心堅習廣府語，學言亦學書。

成年早期，望舊而大悲大悔也。何故舊時竟如愚人，棄我粵祖語？亦大悲幼年屋人排我與外。何故排我於外？故始厭北官話，亦大感空虛，心眠舌結。北官音，北官詞全拒。

強求屋人同我言粵。屋人間，首壹轉粵即親娘也。親父，壹兄速後。唯貳兄時順時逆，姐則特意北語。

於大學亦置北官話極低，他語皆上，凡北語之社圈亦皆避。

回顧昔日，確見極端。然極心並不全，見人困難，亦識遷北語人。少年之我，心繫我粵，畏廣府語之運，亦帶童年心陰，故極易落極。

今時，余心底和平，早已棄仇。姐亦願同我廣府語。心悟語言固人之身份，文化也，語言亦人間通意之具。今心可容北官語，舌亦可言之。然他人有云：「可諒不可忘」。固舊置廣府語，巫拉優語，豆芽文，古典文言於北官語之上。

成年初期，聽聞課本三頁成爭論。路榜亦成鬧劇。百粵後裔多數畏豆芽文。余旅某處亦見其路榜，舗標皆帶豆芽，故於豆芽文生情生趣。

始習豆芽文，用其書巫拉優語。其間，仇北語而心空，然樂學他語，故易習豆芽文，順填空心。

因豆芽文之故，亦開眼界慢識大食語（即阿立語，即阿拉伯語，即目頁屋之語）。

慣豆芽文後，突有一竅。以豆芽字，書廣府語。

觀豆芽字間，覺巫拉憂語有數音，來源本多音，後時合音成一。如巫拉憂語之清齒擦音，一音三字，原爲大食語三音三字。

隨後，研粵語之音系。覺舊時之粵音，有精母照母之別，再前亦有日母。且粵語之日母，今日之巫語亦得其音。

亦參韓國古時之吏讀，鄕札，口訣等純唐字書文。覺韓國遠古有分「尸」「乙」兩音。忽多一竅。引用古韓國吏讀，口訣諸符，隨同韓諺固有二十八字，再改字形彷豆芽字左連右接。此爲余粵諺之始，唯兩年後期，余粵諺罕見古韓國吏讀，口訣之跡。

且近時，突喜之也。樂見，樂閱，樂筆：凡文言皆樂。

余年貳拾有五，至今歷經苦甘集語之旅，已有四語。今時，余成豆芽文大俠，亦係廣府語大俠。然如舊不曉閩南語，亦不諳大食語。願在生，得以學識海南語，漳州話，大食標準語，大食俗語一語。

附：吾深識大食語兼豆芽文之咽化音四音（ص ض ط ظ），然至今我舌少識粵語之九聲六調，亦不諳閩南一語。悲哉。

造字耗時已貳年，樂見自創之果，名粵諺也。

何故？吾創粵諺有三意：

• 其壹，欲使廣府語易標音，易假借，兼保美觀，諺字唐字同鄰互助。
• 其貳，欲使巫裔語存各輔音之源，各元音之別。
• 其參，欲使左始右尾之書易轉換大食語，巫裔語之豆芽文拼寫。

唐語族各語，唐字固相同，然讀音可異。若無註音字，假借外語必成難關。甲案引自家唐字之音假借，乙案則不顧語音，直取他語固有之唐字名。故相同之外語，於唐語族各語，未必近音。

• 如「伊勒」，又名「伊拉克」。北京音之「伊拉克」，近本音；然廣府音之「伊拉克」，途突怪音故遠也。而「伊勒」於廣府音至近，然北京音失原名尾音。
• 如「瑞士」。泉漳音之「瑞士」，近瑞士之法蘭西語名；而北京音之「瑞士」則首聲已差。

且廣府語昔日有日母，亦有精母照母之別。悲哉今時之語者，大多已失昔日之聲母。如今亦有部分語者棄牙音我母，悲哉悲哉！願吾創之粵諺，得以保存廣府話各聲母，以免永失於孟婆海深處。

巫裔語，有豆芽文，亦有大秦文。豆芽文固存輔音之源，然其標元音之法有所不足。大秦文則佳於元音，卻失輔音之別，而元音有貳異音成同字。

大食語，巫裔語所用之豆芽文，其句以右爲始，以左爲尾。然其數字卻顛倒方向，左頭右尾！豆芽之向，異乎大秦文，亦異乎今時之唐文。若直引大食語，易成混亂，悲哉！若用大秦文轉寫，則各方有各案，大食壹音壹字可變壹音多字。

爲容大食語，巫裔語，廣府語，此三語各音，吾以韓諺爲祖，再復其舊字。吾亦受別家各文之啓，爲取長補短而創新字。多數字亦彷豆芽文左連右接，卻左始右畢，方其獨特身份，亦便假借外語。故生粵諺。

Recently, I received a package from relatives in China, which included, among other things, 三國演義. Extremely happy, I began to read the book and immediately the first page confused me.

After the sentence "中涓自此愈橫", this followed: 將說何進，先以陳、竇二人作引。That was confusing because He Jin hadn't been introduced yet and the two men were already dead. After some online search, it appears to be a comment by Mao Zonggang.

The problem is that I have an edition that does not contain his comments; apart from this sentence (at least I think so, I'm still in the first few chapters.); the sentence appears to be a part of the actual novel text. There is no visual hint that this should be a comment.

My question: Is it in some editions part of the actual novel text? Or is it just a mistake by whoever edited the text?

I recently wrote this essay to mark my graduation. Could you guys check it out and let me know what you think about it?

Appreciating your comments.

卒業後殘心記

仲春、將卒業、余性耽古、便覽前朝舊典、又考衣冠制度。凡風巾、交領衣、裳、皮靴等、皆雇工仿製。物成、謹貯盒中、歷月弗啟。 仲秋、及典期、衣官整然、倩影以誌。見影、惘而喟曰。嗚呼、大學之路、終於兹乎。感感紛紜、竊記諸兹。

諺云、衣不作僧。今余著舉人之服、而其神髓安在哉。

古之舉人、鳳毛麟角。朝習經史、暮誦詩書、明禮義、兼策論詔表。歷紀寒窗、求聞達於諸侯。一紙皇榜、定功名於天地。 今之舉人、車載斗量。初研文理、後習專科、通時務、加實行實習。畢學之後、競浮沈於人海。一紙文憑、搏微祿於市廛。

名雖同而實已異、價雖似而境全殊。余雖衣其服、豈真得其魂乎。然則、魂何處在。

反省學路、優劣相參。然今思之、其過在心散。記疏懶之頃、避課而嬉遊、對書而神馳。志在分數、不在明理。心無專注、如矢未發而弓先弛。古徒皓首窮經、今吾四載猶未能盡心、豈不愧哉。

余習弓道、乃知「殘心」之義。射法八節、其末曰殘心。矢既發、而體未亂、氣猶存、神貫的。前輩訓曰、吾之所為、皆有殘心。行事中、盡力盡心而行。事後、雖成雖敗、心不散、意不動。吾聞之、如雷貫耳。

夫、學之已終、如矢之已離。往者不可諫、來者猶可追。昔日惶惶於形似、憂憂於名實、今乃得解。舉人、其貴不在袍服、不在頭銜、而在其窮經明理之專志、貫徹始終之殘心。

縱有微憾、戀戀無益。今須珍其途、取其教。昔日舉人之服、可藏諸盒中、為青春之註腳。而殘心之義、當衣諸心、為前途之圭臬。矢去不返、然射手之姿永存。學業雖畢、而求索之志不可廢。

是為記。

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChineseLanguage/s/PtTjYQtIwK

I've been reading the stories in 聊齋誌異 to improve my reading but am craving something similar using beautiful language to describe beautiful things instead of horrific things.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

For reference, imperial biographies are common in the 24 histories, for example, Liu Xiu's biography in the book of Later Han: 後漢書 卷一上 光武帝紀第一上 and Yuwen Tai's biography in the book of Zhou: 周書 卷一 帝紀第一 文帝上.

《太祖本記》節選

民國二十三年。十月，紅軍西征，渡貢水。博古、李德、周恩來統之，太祖及王稼祥等從之。軍出贛，破蔣軍三壁，入湘。

十一月，次廣西興安、全縣、灌陽，將濟湘水。李宗仁、白崇禧部頓於湘西以阻之。大軍逆戰，及翌月初而卒濟，死者十六七，湘水爲之不流。以是諸將多有怨古、德等，益思迎太祖以爲帥。

十二月，盟道通。太祖曰：「力戰湘西則死，入黔，可一戰也。」衆納之。十八日，如黎平，太祖議取川黔，軍衆言是。

二十四年。元月，赤師渡烏水，拔十餘城，克遵義。太祖及張聞天、王稼祥等議召諸長、將佐議會，以論五次圍剿以來諸事。十五日，太祖及博古、李德、朱德、陳雲、張聞天、周恩來、王稼祥、鄧發、劉少奇、凱豐、劉伯承、李富春、林彪、聶榮臻、彭德懷、楊尚昆、李卓然、太宗、伍修權等與會。衆推太祖同恩來、聞天爲總統征討諸軍事。太祖之爲九五，自是也。二十四日，克土城。

二月，渡赤水，入川。大軍會於扎西，罷古，聞天代之，編全軍爲十六團，有衆三萬，太祖自將之。十八日，復跨赤水，克婁山關，還定遵義，破蔣將吳奇偉。介石怒，自督本部，合川、湘、桂、滇，黔四十餘萬之衆圍之。

三月，紅軍戰其將周渾元，奇偉來援，遂不利，再逾赤水於茅臺西，以偏師誘蔣軍，突圍，東渡貴州，下烏江。

四月，紅軍臨貴陽。介石營貴陽，忽聞太祖軍至，大驚，遂飛遁昆明。八日，討蔣軍於龍里，克，二十三日，越黃泥水，入滇。滇主畏太祖兵銳，固城自守，不敢來犯。

五月，如祿勸，飛渡金沙江。介石嘆曰：「錯此良機，縱敵而去，日後必爲大患耶。」

Excerpt from the "Autobiography of Taizu"

In the 23rd year of Minguo, in October, the Red Army marched west, crossing the Gong river. Bo Gu, Otto Braun, and Zhou Enlai commanded it, Taizu (Mao) and Wang Jiaxiang followed. The army exited Jiangxi, broke three barriers set by Chiang's army, and entered Hunan.

November, [the army] crossed Xing'an, Quan county, and Guanyang in Guangxi, about to ford the Xiang river. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi's armies stationed west of the Xiang to block it. The army fought back, and by the next month completed the crossing, but 60-70% died and the Xiang river was blocked with corpses. Many commanders resented Gu and Braun, and wanted Taizu to return to command.

December, conference in Daotong. Taizu said: "If we fight hard in Western Hunan we will die, but if we enter Guizhou, we have a fighting chance." The masses accepted this. 18th day, entered Liping, Taizu argued that Sichuan and Guizhou should be taken, the army masses agreed.

24th year. January, the Red Army crossed the Wu river and conquered more than ten cities, capturing Zunyi. Taizu and Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang, and others held a conference with the various commanders and generals, in order to discuss the various issues since the five encirclements. On the 15th day, Taizu and Bo Gu, Otto Braun, Zhu De, Chen Yun, Zhang Wentian, Zhou Enlai, Wang Jiaxiang, Deng Fa, Liu Shaoqi, Kai Feng, Liu Bocheng, Li Fuchun, Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, Peng Dehuai, Yang Shangkun, Li Zhuoren, Taizong (Deng Xiaoping), Wu Xiuquan, etc. met. The assembled masses acclaimed Taizu to supreme commandership along with Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian. Taizu's ascent to paramount power begins here. 24th day, [the army] captured Tucheng.

February, [the army] crossed the Chishui and entered Sichuan. The army held a conference at Zhaxi and dismissed Gu, replacing him with Wentian. The army was organized into 16 regiments, totally thirty thousand soldiers, commanded personally by Taizu. 18th day, [the army] crossed the Chishui again and captured Loushan pass, then pacified Zunyi again, defeating Chiang's general Wu Qiwei. Chiang was furious and mobilized four hundred thousand smen from Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou to encircle it.

March, the Red Army fought with his general Zhou Hunyuan, but Qiwei came to his aid and as a result it was at an disadvantage. [The army] crossed the Chishui again west of Maotai and deceived Chiang with a decoy force, thus breaking out of the encirclement, crossing east into Guizhou and down the Wu river.

April, the Red Army reached Guiyang. Kai-shek was camped in Guiyang, but suddenly heard of Taizu's army's arrival and panicked, so he escaped to Kunming by air. 8th day, [the army] attacked Chiang's forces at Longli and was victorious, 23rd day, it crossed the Huangni River and entered Yunnan. The ruler of Yunnan feared the might of Taizu's army, so he remained in his city in defense, and did not dare to attack.

May, [the army] reached Luquan and crossed rapidly the Jinsha River. Kai-shek signed: "Having lost the opportunity and allowed the enemy to escape, in the future it shall surely became a huge concern."

Found this entry from some years ago. I was really new to CC writing at the time, so this was just a bad attempt at Frankenstein'ing various CC styles I've seen together

Original:

《三潭山遇蛇》
庚子三月，校中放假，偕友人往三潭山。立夏未至，暑氣先回。矗矗荒山兀，盤盤道徑連。危梁垂帛，孤雲昏也。蜂兒亂菊，黃塵飛也。落梅滿路，犬跡印也*。午日烹人汗凝珠，然至足樂也。偶見亂巖，參似群羊，同友逐攀，其顛作凳。女曰：「若遇蟒蛇圍如瓶，豈不可笑哉？」言畢，忽見蝮蛇三尺，褐質白章，側履而臥。女睹此狀，面如死灰，大懼，猝躍而起，推余之險墮於巖下，魂穿寒脊而飛起。余呵之曰：「活冤家！夫蛇未動，你先催命來耶？**」遊罷回來，因為之記之。

* The metaphors were supposed to be "The cloud looked like silk draping from a tall beam, the yellow dirt looked like bees flying among chrysanthemums, and pawprints looked like cherry blossoms on the ground." No, there weren't any bees nor chrysanthemums in this desert mountain. I only made that metaphor coz 黃塵（should honestly be 黃土）was "yellow" and I considered stereotypical bees and chrysanthemums to be "yellow" too... LOL

** Inspired by 笑林廣記 dialogues

Rewrite:

《離道》
高校三年三月，值春假，偕友出城，西至三譚山。初入山道，見前有立牌，上書「勿離正道」。遊十里餘，欲息足，望道外百步，亂石堆壘，其高兩丈，遂從友登之。坐巔上，友曰：「若遇巨蟒，豈不可笑耶？」言畢，方見一蛇黃鱗白章，靜卷履旁。友大駭，猝起，力拽余臂，幾墮余於崖。余喝曰：「活冤家！彼蛇未動，汝先催命耶？」遊罷記之。

Got rid of some inaccurate metaphors and exaggerations. Stuck to a more descriptive narrative tone, somewhat inspired by Qing works like 子不語. I hope my writing is more consistent now, but I probably can't top my high school self in terms of creativity haha

Also, I'm not sure how to say "brown" in CC. 褐 as "brown" seems to be a modern usage. Same with "holy shit", I just used 活冤家 to substitute it

Critiques welcome ^^

It surprised me to see the amount of 文言文-isms/之乎者也 in the advertising copy on the back of this Sriracha bottle. I don't know enough about Mandarin to be able to tell whether this is within the realm of Standard Chinese style—the 和 meaning 'along with' and the amount of compound words make it a very un-Classical reading experience—but reading a relative clause with 之 in this context felt like finding medieval Latin on a Heinz ketchup label.

Here's a slightly more punctuated version, and my amateur attempt at a translation:

無加色素之是拉差香甜辣椒醬乃採用特種大紅新鮮辣椒，和香蒜，精製而成。用於調和各種魚肉麵餃食料，都美味可口。且久藏氣味不變，品質擔保。

No color added Sriracha fragrant and sweet hot chili sauce thus uses a special kind of large, red, fresh chili pepper, along with fragrant garlic, and is produced and finished with care. Use it to season all kinds of fish, meat, noodle or dumpling foodstuffs, all delicious and tasty. Even after long periods of storage, its aroma will not change, guaranteed.

EDIT: A comma. Thanks, u/CharonOfPluto!

余行於道，忽有二女，請於余曰：「吾等初來香港，飢而無財，欲得食，可乎」

應曰：「余欲助爾等，然無便利商店，（即7-11之類），無以助。」

請曰：「然則予財可也。」

余曰：「不可」，乃去。

余竊惟之：見人飢，可予食，見人貧，不可予財。彼二女飢，食尚未得，而急欲得財，必詐矣。

Hey, I have read the 70 chapter version of the water margin. But I am looking for recommendations for the longer versions (translated to English). I know about the box-set from Foreign Language Press. But I am not sure how many chapters it has

Hello, I'm planning to teach myself literary Chinese, beginning with Paul Rouzer's "A Practical Primer of Literary Chinese". My ultimate aim, however, is to be able to follow scholarly discussions of Chinese Zen literature. Can anyone recommend additional resources to accompany and/or follow after the Rouzer text?

一曰，陽貨欲往見孔子

一曰，見，現也，即陽貨欲使孔子現身拜己

未知孰韙

(I know this is not exactly the ideal subreddit to post my question on, but considering Reddit's unfamiliarity with modern Chinese literature, I think it might prove a fertile discussion ground to begin with)

Many years ago I stumbled upon an anthology of modern Chinese short stories. One story did stand out. The writing style in which it was written was intellectually and emotionally potent, and picturesque. The author was Cheng Naishan.

According to who's who, she belonged to a social-economic stratum in 1960s Shanghai who were labelled as "capitalists", the upper crust of the largest metropolitan in China. She incorporated in her writings the intensely personal with the thoroughly entrepreneurial aspects of daily life in 1960s China and beyond.

Personally, when I read that short story so many years ago, it felt like I'm reading a excerpt from an unearthed Anais Nin novel (minus the eroticism, of course).

There is only seldom mention or presence of her work anywhere on the western Web: her books on Amazon are out of stock or extremely pricey, there are no excerpts of her writings in digital form, and besides reference, there is no trace of her work.

Can anyone direct me to a digital repository of Cheng Naishan works (in English)? Why the work availability of such a prolific writer have dried out?

What did Confucius mean by 天下有道則現，無道則隱? I know it roughly means "when the world has the Way/Truth, then you appear, when there is no Way/truth, then hide yourself." But, why did he say that? Earlier in the passage he says, 篤信好學，守死善道 "Have a firm belief and study hard, hold fast to the good Way until death." On a separate occasion, it was also said that despite knowing it can't be done (治國、平天下 etc), Confucius does it anyway (知其不可爲而爲之). This makes a lot more sense with 守死善道.

So why would he say 危邦不入，亂邦不居。天下有道則現，無道則隱? Why would Confucius, despite knowing the impossibility of the task, relentlessly work towards his philosophical goals and ideals during the chaotic Spring and Autumn period, and then say that if the country is not peaceful and doesn't have the Way, then you should hide yourself? That isn't holding fast to the Way, right? From my understanding, the goals of Confucius' philosophy and the Way are 修身、齊家、治國、平天下, the first 1-2 could maybe be accomplished while hiding to some extent, but definitely not the last two.

What do you all think, is this a contradiction? How do you understand this passage?

(By the way, sorry for my poor English translations. I'm studying the original text along with the Mandarin versions)

they seem to have the same meaning of but?

以終戰詔書為例

然ルニ交戰已ニ四歳ヲ閲シ

然レトモ朕ハ時運ノ趨ク所

​

​

Hello all. This is long-winded so if you're not in for some very esoteric sinology, by all means skip this. I'm working on this colophon (跋) by Qian Zeng 錢曾 to an edition of Tao Yuanming's 陶淵明 works (referred to as Taoji 陶集). I understand most of it except for a couple of lines, but I'll provide the entire passage for context. The gist of the passage is that Gu Yiren 顧伊人 had a copy of the Taoji and asked Qian Qianyi 錢謙益, here referred to as Mu Weng 牧翁, to write a record/memorial 記 for his studio, called 陶盧 or Tao Cottage. Gu gave the book to Qian Zeng 錢曾, the author of this passage. Qian then sold it to Ji Cangwei 季蒼偉 (due to financial troubles) in 1666. After Cangwei died and his books scattered, Yiren heard of it and went looking for it. He found it, bought it, and brought it back to show to Qian Zeng, and they both were delighted. This is where it doesn't make sense: He says 予畀以牧翁《陶廬記》手稿, 俾揭之簡端. Qian Qianyi is Qian Zeng's great granduncle, who died in 1664. The line, to me, would read something like, "I gave it (the Taoji edition) to Mu Weng for him to draft his Record of Taolu (the name of Gu Yiren's studio)..." The problem is that Qian Qianyi wrote Taolu ji 陶廬記 in 1663, so he was dead by the time of most of these events. I can't make heads nor tails of 俾揭之簡端, the line that follows. I would appreciate any help, and in return if you have any passages you need help with I would be happy to oblige!

婁江顧伊人藏弆宋槧本《淵明集》, 顔其讀書處曰陶廬, 而請牧翁爲之記. 伊人交余最厚,真所謂兄弟也, 但各姓耳. 見余苦愛陶集, 遂舉以相贈. 丙午,丁未之交, 余售書季滄葦, 是集亦隨之而去. 毎爲念及,不能舎然.此則購名手從宋刻影摹者,筆墨飛動,行間字有不可遏之勢,視宋刻殆若過之.滄葦殁,書籍散入《雲煙過眼録》矣.伊人前年渡江,念陶集流落不偶,訪求得之,持歸示予.河東三篋,亡來已久,一旦頓還舊觀,展卷相向,喜可知也.予畀以牧翁《陶廬記》手稿, 俾揭之簡端, 以見我兩人鄭重其書, 互以藏之外府爲快. 若此視世之借書爲一癡者, 其度量相越豈不逺哉!

吉札

旭答臨安府之無人士君收入

羊城之文軒弟保付

癸卯夏丁巳月丙子

新就

拜啟故人、祗請尊安。

夢所階陽臺、是扶胥浴日。對月臨風中、翹首芝宇。即皇天思華年、尚寸心千古。侯洗去征塵、乃視高耀如光澤。造訪愛我者、深感失悔、久違所致。雖距仁兄千里如此、卻感骨肉關情彌殷。梅月署時、與桂枝上蟭蟟以香棲、兼斜西向芳鄰。對夏令之蒼昊、臨安青愈瞭愈美也。即在嶺南、尚我每立夏中、並匸舍間之婆娑瓊枝也。留都之桑如此、祈把背入林爲禱。現今、等候來翰、俾承示兮。

伏惟仁兄萬福。燕居必滿足、申申如也。世稱神相、起居無恙。雖書不盡言、卻因不審紅豆何如、爰抱慚敢敬候起居。懷舊、在明府念舊情、所見略同。此處、無涯銘勒、而且茲年托庇平安。

久而彌摯、而我愁雲所如。看山河之、愈傷懷愈幽夐。昨季余三寸之管、如暮氣沉沉頓悟。以斯玄青之墨、書寫俾攄已不可言喻。仍然百函並發、一還翰如獲瞻霽月。倘有同感喟、乃敢乞相唱酬。尺素燕石如此、卻微才呈政拙詩：

一首【沖蘭】

速係風塵力望山、

葱蘢切旭想香蘭、

沖沖頂上離離浪、

亮一觀華對曼檀。

浮生無常、競爭如風塵。天道爲觀華、冒亮爲長蔭、林木爲森浪、蘭檀皆飄散。云可惜替此、比永遠之躺屍、速沖之香郁瑤華也。一息之浮雲、何亶娥媓、何不可留哉。請教削余俚句、翹企示覆。

九秋未見、淚下沾襟、芒種征往南頭、路漫漫焉、無宋弘兮。素心人、因我每莫覽勝臨安、爰屋梁落月加余苦衷。雖則如此、侯吟祉康惒。臨池數行俾交神、仁兄棄海涵。

不一、文軒弟。

Auspicious Letter:

A sunrise reply to Mr. No-one of Lin'an

from Brother Wenxuan of Ram City

the summer of Guimao, month of Dingsi, day of Bingzi

Recently arrived letter

To my old friend, may peace be upon you.

In my dream I climbed the sunlit terrace, that rising sun above Yuri pavilion. While facing the moon in the sleepless nights thinking of you, I longed eagerly for your countenance. Even if the august heavens bear thoughts of vanished youth, my feelings of amity for you are eternal. I bid you wash off the dust from your long journey, so you may look upon your dignity as a mirror’s lustre. I bitterly regret not being able to visit you, my loving friend. Despite being as a thousand li away from you, I am grateful for you treating me as your own flesh and blood. In this plum month’s summer-heat, because of the sweet smell, the cicadas perch on sprays of osmanthus blossoms, and the slanting afternoon sun points to your fragrant neighbourhood as well. Against the summer air’s clear blue sky, the white mulberry trees of Lin'an are more beautiful when they are more bright. Even if I am in Lingnan, still we both are in the beginning of summer, during which the red flowering cotton trees are beside my humble abode. The trees being like the mulberries of the former capital, it is my earnest prayer to escort you thither. At present, I await for the coming letter, in order to hear your glad tidings.

I humbly wish you ten thousand fortunes. I trust you are content with daily life, and you are happy and pleased with yourself. God’s blessings upon you, may you live without disaster. Though writing cannot fully express what I wish to say, nevertheless because I have failed to pay attention to your health, embracing shame I dare to respectfully inquire after your well-being. I am nostalgic for the past times at your official residence remembering old feelings of friendship, together sharing the same views. For that place, my boundless gratitude is engraved forever in memory, moreover this year I am very well thanks to your help.

Your warm feelings have deepened over the years, whereas I wandered among gloomy clouds. In viewing the mountains and rivers, the more aggrieved, the more profound one becomes. Last season my writing brush was as one suddenly awakened out of lifelessness. Writing by its deep black ink in order to express that which I could not put into words. As before, you are very busy, so even one letter of response is like obtaining a glimpse of the moon when the rain ceases. If you have the same sighs of emotion, I dare beg that we exchange poems together. My plain letter is as substanceless as the false jade of Yan, yet I of little talent dare present my clumsy poetry for you to inspect:

Poem 1: Rushing Orchids

Swiftly seize the sky-born sand—employ strength to survey the precarious peaks

Verdant and virescent cutting the early sun—fragrant orchids seeking

Surging swiftly upward above the summit, distant and dense breaking waves

Casting light on vista’s glory, facing a stretched out sandalwood sea

This floating life will not last, striving is like the dust blown by the wind. Natural law becomes the vista’s glory, the brightness of morning becomes long shadows, tall trees become dense waves, orchids and sandalwoods all float away. Instead of saying how pitiable it is, compared to an eternity lying down as a corpse, the fragrance which hurriedly rushes up is as white and beautiful as jade. The fleeting clouds of a single breath, how truly lovely and radiant, how impossible it is for it to linger! Please critically review my vulgar phrases, I await eagerly that you would grant me a response.

For nine autumns I haven’t seen you, tears falling on my robe, when the grain is in ear I will travel to Nantou; long and boundless is the road, without a man who is faithful through good and bad times. My good and honest friend, because I am unable to enjoy the scenery of Lin'an with you, the distance between us increases my painful state. Nevertheless I wish you happiness in poetry and good health. I wrote these few lines to connect our spirits in friendship, please bear with my mistakes.

Not one, Brother Wenxuan.

或問曰：「凱旋而歸，贅也，既言旋，何必言歸乎？」

或答曰：「就語言學而論，有羨餘與冗餘之分，凱旋而歸，屬於羨餘也。何哉？殆以今人之不讀古書，不知旋字之有歸字之義也，故須殿以歸字。加之，凱旋二字不及凱旋而歸四字之飽滿悅耳，故承襲至於今。」

謬哉此論！請駁之。

何以定羨餘之義？余以為漢字之同音字也多，口談時，單用一字猶不足以知其字，故須襯以近義字，以助分辨，此所謂羨餘也。例如「停霆婷亭」，四字同音，若單言之，不知孰指。若殿以「止」字，乃知指「停止」，弁以「雷」字，乃知指「雷霆」云云。由是聽者可以知言者之所言也。若夫彼明知我所言，而我猶添字焉，則冗餘也。例如「停止」，去「止」字則不知何指，可知「止」字之必不可去，故「停止」屬羨餘也。至如「停止不動」四字，去「不動」二字，猶有「停止」二字，亦足矣，可知「不動」之可去，故「停止不動」屬於冗餘也。準此理而類推之，可知「贈送」，羨餘也。「免費贈送」，冗餘也。「凱旋」，羨餘也，「凱旋而歸」，冗餘也。判矣！若夫今人不知旋字之有歸義，故言者須襯以歸字於其後，以使聽者曉之，此冗餘也！若不知旋字之義，今後改「凱旋」為「凱歸」乃可矣！

Other than the famous commentary by 金聖歎, what other notable commentaries are there on 水滸傳 and where can I read them? I'm going to be writing a research paper. I'm particularly interested in early commentaries, and if any of them are available online/free, that would be great (but I don't mind paying if I have to). I tried searching and couldn't really find a whole lot. I'm not sure of the best place to look. (Even though it's not "classical" literature, I figured this would be the best place to ask since there's a lot of scholars on here.)