具体描述
An encyclopaedic account of traditional Chinese festivals, customs and beliefs, lavishly illustrated with line drawings and paintings, this remarkable work by an Englishman who spent twenty years in China from the Imperial aftermath through the establishment of Communism, gives fascinating insights into a complex culture poised between past and present. Burckhardt's beautifully written and detailed work includes the rites practiced by the Manchu royal court and the rituals permitted under the Communist and Nationalist regimes, the festivals of working people and villagers as well as the ceremonies of the mandarins of Peking and Hong Kong, in all seasons of the year. He was especially close to the renowned Boat People of the former colony, and gives a unique account of life abroad the harbour junks and their sea-borne celebrations. Among the subjects dealt with are Chinese cuisine, the meaning of presents, secret societies, the Chinese calendar, cats (the Chinese prefer cats with yellow eyes), Chinese dress, jade carving, feng shui, etiquette, the hundreds of gods of house and wayside, temples and their guardians, and all the great festivals -- those of the Moon, the Dragon Boats, the Hungry Ghosts, the Magnolia, the New Year and many more. Chinese creeds and customs were Burkhardt's passion, and no better account of them will ever be written. Contains all three original volumes
作者简介
Colonel Valentine Rodolphe Burkhardt D.S.O, O. B. E. was born in 1884. From Clifton he joined the Army and at 19 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery. He first came to China in the beginning of 1913 as a Language Student in Peking, and qualified as a First Class Interpreter in Mandarin. Recalled for the First World War he served in various Staff Appointments. He returned to China in 1923 as a General Staff Officer, and spent five years in Tientsin, traveling extensively in the interior during his tour of duty. After four years Regimental Service at home, he was appointed as Military Attache to the British Legation in Peking, where he spent two and a half years, before qualifying for promotion to Substantive Colonel by Commanding the Western Defences at Singapore. In 1936 he was appointed G. S. O. 1st Grade, China Command, and spent three years in Hong Kong, again travelling in the Interior. Retired in 1939, he was recalled for a further year as Military Attache to the British Embassy in China, till the Spring of 1941. On returning to England he was employed for the last part of the War as T. C. O. with the Admiralty. He made Chinese creeds and customs his hobby, and few are better qualified to write on the subject.
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我最近在追踪一位学者的研究方向，他似乎对某个特定历史时期的社会结构及其演变过程有着独到的见解，因此我满怀期待地翻开了这本看起来颇具学术深度的著作。我原以为这本书会深入剖析那个年代的基层治理模式，特别是对于地方士绅阶层与中央权力之间的微妙互动，会有一个详尽的论述。我尤其关注其中关于某个关键历史事件的叙事视角——是否能够跳脱出主流宏大叙事，提供一些更具地方色彩和个体经验的观察角度。然而，在快速浏览了前几章的目录和引言后，我发现其着墨点似乎更侧重于宏观的、概括性的总结，而非我所期待的那种田野调查式的微观切入。这让我略感遗憾，因为只有那些细致入微的案例研究，才能真正支撑起一个复杂的社会模型。希望接下来的章节能够有所转向，展现出更扎实的史料挖掘和更具批判性的论证，否则，它可能会沦为一本教科书式的综述，而非开创性的研究成果。
这本书的语言风格简直是一股清流，读起来完全没有那种令人昏昏欲睡的学术腔调。作者的叙事节奏把握得非常巧妙，时而娓娓道来，将一个复杂的概念掰开了揉碎了讲，仿佛是一位经验老到的老教授在跟你促膝长谈；时而又突然加快节奏，抛出一个令人拍案叫绝的观点，让人瞬间精神一振。特别是那些用来阐释抽象哲理的譬喻，简直是信手拈来，既生动形象又暗合深意。我发现自己在阅读过程中，不时会停下来，对着某一句富有哲思的话语反复咀嚼，甚至在脑海中构想出与之对应的画面。这种文字的魔力，使得原本可能枯燥的理论学习过程，变成了一种愉悦的探索之旅。如果一本知识性读物能将“知识的传递”与“文学的美感”如此完美地融合，那它就超越了工具书的范畴，具备了持久的阅读价值。我非常欣赏这种将深刻思想包裹在优雅文字之中的表达方式。
说实话，我本来是冲着这本书的某个著名译者慕名而来的，我对他在西方文学领域那些精准而富有韵律感的译文印象深刻。我期待看到他如何处理特定文化背景下的词汇和语境，特别是那些带有强烈地域色彩的表达方式，是否能够被巧妙地本土化，而不是生硬地直译。在阅读过程中，我重点比对了几个关键术语的翻译，试图找出译者独特的处理手法。我注意到，在某些表达情感强烈的段落，译者似乎做出了大胆的取舍，放弃了逐字对应，转而追求意境的对等和情感的共鸣，这无疑是高明的。但也有一些地方，我个人感觉略显保守，保留了过多的原文结构，使得句式略显拗口，与整本书流畅的叙述风格产生了一点小小的摩擦。这或许是翻译工作者在忠实度与流畅性之间永恒的权衡吧，但我相信，一位大师级的译者总能找到那个最完美的平衡点，期待后续章节能展现出更多的神来之笔。
我对这类探讨集体心理和行为模式的书籍一向抱有浓厚的兴趣，因为它能帮助我理解身边那些看似随机的社会现象背后的逻辑。我希望这本书能够提供一套清晰的分析框架，比如，它是否引入了最新的行为经济学模型，或者能否将传统社会学的经典理论与当代的互联网行为数据相结合，形成一个跨学科的综合视角。当我翻阅到关于“群体认同的形成与固化”这一章节时，我仔细寻找是否有关于“信息茧房”效应的深入探讨，以及这种效应在特定文化群体中如何被强化或瓦解的实证研究。这本书的优势似乎在于它对历史案例的引用非常丰富，从古代的仪式到近现代的社会运动，案例的广度令人印象深刻。然而，我更希望看到的是对“为什么”的深度挖掘，而不是仅仅停留在“发生了什么”的描述上。如果能提供更具操作性的理论工具，指导读者如何辨识和应对这些集体心智的盲点，这本书的实用价值将大大提升，使其成为一本真正能指导我们如何更清醒地生活的指南。
这本书的装帧设计确实很有品味，封面选用的那种略带做旧感的米黄色纸张，手感温润，配合着精致的烫金字体，透着一股沉淀了时光的厚重感。拿到手里沉甸甸的，让人立刻对其中的内容抱有极高的期待。我尤其欣赏它在内文排版上的用心，字间距和行距的把握恰到好处，即便是长时间阅读，眼睛也不会感到疲劳。纸张的质量也相当不错，墨色浓郁而不渗透，这对于一本需要反复翻阅和做笔记的书来说，简直是加分项。光是捧着这本书阅读，本身就是一种享受，仿佛能从纸张的纤维中触摸到作者一丝不苟的态度。我希望这本书能够像它的外表一样，在内容上也展现出同样的精雕细琢，特别是对于那些文化脉络的梳理，如果能像这封面设计一样富有层次感和质感，那绝对是年度必读的佳作。翻开扉页，那些古典的插图若隐若现，更增添了一种探寻古老智慧的神秘感，整体感觉非常棒，期待内容能够匹配这高水准的制作工艺。
