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qr Liang Shiqiu For many readers, Liang Shiqiu (1903–1987) is forever linked with xiaopin wen, in large part due to the popularity of his Yashe xiaopin. His essays are characterized by the kind of wit that one associates with the English familiar essay. Most of the titles of his essays concern human situations and daily objects, which he explores from a variety of angles, citing relevant anecdotes and literary references to illustrate his points. The three essays anthologized here are works of this kind. Liang received his education at Tsinghua College, before going to Colorado College and Harvard University in the US to further his studies. When he was at Columbia University, he studied under Irving Babbitt, whose philosophy on New Humanism he brought back to China. As a professor of English, Liang advocates a belief in the transcendence of literature over social classes. Such a view of literature puts him at odds with leftist writers, with whom, chief among them Lu Xun, he carried a bitter long-standing debate. 7N 4QIVO¼[ UIVa TQ\MZIZa IKKWUXTQ[PUMV\[ PM Q[ \PM ÅZ[\ [KPWTIZ \W have translated single-handedly the complete plays of Shakespeare— a monumental endeavor that took him some thirty-seven years to complete. 178 A Garden of One’s Own Middle Age (1949) The hands of a clock or watch move slowly—so slowly that one hardly notices. Age is like that, too. It advances imperceptibly, year after year, ]V\QT WVM LIa aW] IZM [\IZ\TML \W ÅVL \PI\ aW] PI^M ZMIKPML UQLLTM age. By then, there are probably two things you cannot help observing. First, obituaries arrive with no letting up: Some of your more impatient NZQMVL[ PI^M LMKQLML \W UW^M WV IPMIL ÅZ[\ _PQKP KIV [XWQT aW]Z N]V quite a bit. At the same time, you suddenly notice hordes of young people cavorting before your eyes, and you wonder where they have JMMV PQLQVO ITT \PQ[ \QUM 6W_ \PMa [_IOOMZ QV NZWV\ WN aW] ÆI]V\QVO their strong, steady gait and youthful, merry faces, looking as if they were on their way to a wedding. Meanwhile, most of your own peers have long since gone into hibernation, handing the whole world over \W\PMaW]VO)[\PM[IaQVOOWM[¹)TTWVMPMIZ[Q[VM_[WNWTLNZQMVL[¼ LMI\P[ ITT WVM [MM[ IZM aW]VO XMWXTMº

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