Enlightened by the Western Odyssey/西行悟道 [Chinese]

By 徐兆寿

A masterpiece in the study of Silk Road culture 丝绸之路文化研究力作 This collection of essays brings together cultural reflections written in recent years by the renowned author Xu Zhaoshou during his travels and spiritual sojourns in the western regions. Most of these pieces have been published in literary journals such as People's Literature, Frontiers, Masters, and Beijing Literature, with several chapters generating significant resonance upon their initial release. What distinguishes Xu Zhaoshou's cultural essays from those of past prose writers is multifaceted. First, they offer a vigorous defense of Western Chinese culture, approaching the subject from the perspectives of cultural morphology and geographical ecology, characterized by a robust style and unique flair. Second, they passionately argue for the vindication and revival of traditional Chinese culture, imbued with sincere emotion and a coherent narrative that bridges past and present. Third, they explore the future path of Chinese culture through the contrast and synthesis of Chinese and Western traditions, demonstrating a broad, strategic vision and sweeping insight. As critics Chen Xiaoming and Meng Fanhua have noted, Xu Zhaoshou's prose, like his novels, belongs to the realm of new humanistic writing. It represents a type of scholarly cultural prose that not only inherits the May Fourth tradition of writer-scholars but also reaches back to the pre-Qin prose masters and the Tang-Song Eight Masters' principle of "conveying the Way through literature." Viewed within its contemporary context, this essay collection by Xu Zhaoshou can be seen as a significant literary achievement emerging from the cultural construction surrounding the Belt and Road Initiative. Considering his cultural research and literary output in recent years-including his "Trilogy of Inquiring the Way" (Inquiring the Way on the Wilderness, Kumarajiva, The Origin of Inquiring the Way), as well as nearly ten other works in his series on Silk Road culture, such as Poets on the Silk Road and Envoys on the Silk Road-Xu Zhaoshou has established himself as a key representative figure in the dissemination and interpretation of Silk Road culture. 本散文集收录了近些年来著名作家徐兆寿在西部行走和悟道的文化随笔，大部分已在《人民文学》《天涯》《大家》《北京文学》等刊物上发表，其中一些篇章曾引起很大反响。 徐兆寿的文化随笔与过去的散文家不同在于，一是为西部文化强烈抗辩，从文化形态、地理生态等方面入手，风格雄健，别具风采；二是为中国传统文化正名、疾呼，大声抗辩，情感真挚，上下贯通；三是从中西方文化的对比和融合中寻找中国文化未来之路，纵横捭阖，视野开阔。正如评论家陈晓明和孟繁华所言，徐兆寿的散文与他的小说一样，属于新人文主义写作，是学者型文化散文，不仅承继了"五四"时期作家学者化的风气，还上追先秦散文家和唐宋八大家文以载道的风格。 从时代背景来看，徐兆寿的这部散文集可视为"一带一路"文化建设在文学方面的一个收获。从徐兆寿这些年来的文化研究与文学写作来看，他的"问道三部曲"《荒原问道》《鸠摩罗什》《问道之源》以及《丝绸之路上的诗人》《丝绸之路上的使者》等近10部丝绸之路文化研究系列使他已经成为丝绸之路文化传播的重要代表之一。

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Chinese
• ISBN: 7521214137
• ISBN13: 9787521214130
• Release Date: September 2021
• Publisher: China National Publications Import & Export C
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"