陶庵夢憶·西湖夢尋

by 張岱

TaoAn Dream and Seaching Dreams in West Lake are the famous works of Zhang Dai-the fmaous essayist in late Ming Dynasty. Zhang Dai was born in a official family, he lived a sheltered life in his early years. After the Ming Dynasty, he went into seclusion and began his writing life. TaoAn Dream is his recollection of his early life, reflecting teahouse, storytellers acting, landscapes and social life and customs figures in that time. Seaching Dreams in West Lake presents some anecdotes with a lot of poems and odes of the previous scholars. The two books were written with fluency language and literary talent.

233 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Alvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think even for a Chinese reader, this Reminiscence of Tao'an (or Recollection of Tao'an Past Dreams), an anthology of essays written in ancient Chinese, is not easy to understand. An substantial amount of background information and explanatory notes are required to help getting through it. Many words and phrases in the text as to the true and exact meaning remain uncertain and controversial even to the elite scholars today.

Special thanks to Forbidden City Publishing House of Beijing who published this version in traditional Chinese and longitudinal format, both of which are rarely seen and have virtually disappeared in mainland China. 

The explanatory notes are carefully given in an optimal amount just sufficient for an overall understanding of the text, as explained in the editor's foreword, so as not to suffocate the space for reader's own interpretation. The integration of original text and explanatory notes is a novel idea and it helps easy reading. 

Zheng Dai, is said to be the best Chinese writer in late Ming Dynasty. This Reminiscence of Tao'an, is also said to be the best of his works. 

I imagine, Zhang Dai, contemporary with Shakespeare, should have attained the same fame as Shakespeare if it were translated into English. (So far there are French and Japanese translations but the translations are far from the ideal). As far as the people know, no one has ever done an English translation since it is extremely difficult to interpret it accurately and retain its original favor.