Preface to Wielding the Whisk in the Five Hundred Stones Grotto

Five Hundred Stones Grotto, Wielding the Whisk, page 7

When one is exhausted in the countryside, one goes to the market towns; when exhausted in the market towns, one goes to the capital; when exhausted in the capital, one goes overseas. When even the lands overseas are exhausted, there is only my room. Fearing that my room cannot endure forever, I have named my book after my room. I discarded exam-preparation scripts original: 帖括 (tièguā). These were formulaic collections of essays used by students to study for the civil service examinations. to pursue evidential scholarship original: 考據 (kǎojù). A rigorous school of Qing Dynasty philology and historical criticism.; I discarded evidential scholarship to pursue the affairs of the day; and I discarded the affairs of the day to pursue poetry. When poetry is finally discarded, there is only free talk.

Is "free talk" truly where I find my peace? Yet, in the end, I have invested the spirit of free talk into my book. Do I possess knowledge? Or am I without knowledge? Both the writing of books and the copying of books are the results of reaching a state of exhaustion where nothing is left to discard. From this day forward, those who wish to find the Five Hundred Stones Grotto The name of the author's study. "Stone" (dan) here refers to a unit of weight or volume, suggesting a vast or heavy collection. must look overseas. Yet that which I daily "wield the whisk" original: 揮麈 (huīzhǔ). "Wielding the whisk" refers to the ancient practice of holding a yak-hair whisk during "Pure Conversation" (Qingtan) sessions. It symbolizes refined, philosophical, and leisurely discourse. over is still poetry. Alas! Shall I finally have no standard left to follow?

Written by the Sojourner of Star Island original: 星洲寓公 (Xīngzhōu yùgōng). "Star Island" is a poetic name for Singapore. Shuyuan Khoo Seok Wan (Qiu Shuyuan, 1874–1941), a prominent Chinese intellectual, poet, and philanthropist in Singapore who supported the reform movements in China. in the second month of spring during the Wuxu year of the Guangxu reign roughly March 1898..

This collection was originally intended to be titled Fragments from the Bean Fence, but the name was later changed to the current Wielding the Whisk in the Five Hundred Stones Grotto. Note added by Shuyuan.