The Beauty of Old Books

The Beauty of Old Books

By Annie Baby （Anni Baobei） and Wei Li New Star Press， January 2013

The Beauty of Old Books is based on Chinese author Annie Baby’s extensive interview with Chinese book collector Wei Li on the beauty of old books in terms of their editions， paper， mounting and printing. This book sheds light on the difficult times traditional publishing endured over its evolution， and illustrates the authors’ respect for the committed writers and skillful craftsmen who wrote， bound and produced those books. Wei Li also introduces 10 valuable old books from aspects of contents， editions and stories behind them. Wei pays homage to the internal power and strength of traditional Chinese culture through documenting the beauty of the old books. He advocates a return to simplicity and peace of mind， and a closeness to traditional culture to feel its beauty.“Annie Baby” has become well-known in China ever since she published Goodbye， Vivian in 1998， along with several other web novels. Since then， she has primarily focused on marginal individuals in cities. Her other major works are Lotus and Spring Feasts. Wei Li is a contemporary Chinese book collector who has acquired more than 100，000 old books.

The Scarecrow of the Times

by Xu Zhiyuan Guangxi Normal University Press January 2013

China was probably the largest and most impressive testing area in the world over the past three decades. Not only has the country created a huge and surprising amount of material wealth， but it also leaped across centuries of development in a compressed way. Many woke one morning to discover that the world around them was not the one they once knew.

But what of the fate and feelings of each individual against the backdrop of such massive， sudden， irresistible historical change – change that was even disordered in many aspects？ Xu Zhiyuan， a social critic belonging to the younger Chinese generation， reflects on and answers such questions in his new book The Scarecrow of the Times. The book is a collection of commentaries the author made on current events in recent years， and has been called a “morale analysis of the rise of a great country.”Even more commendable is that he contemplates his own limitations while recounting big events and his perspectives on them. Xu hopes he will not serve as a scarecrow of the times， because this is “an age during which the country is unprecedentedly more prosperous and stronger than ever before，” and an age which starkly contrasts last century’s period of warlord warfare and national humiliation. He reminds the intellectual elite of the country to avoid restlessness and turn inward in seek of principles and social responsibility.

Composition Notebook （Revised Edition）

by Yung Ho Chang Shenghuo-Dushu-Xinzhi Joint Publishing Company December 2012

Holding a Masters of Architecture degree from University of California at Berkeley， Yung Ho Chang， founder of the Graduate Center of Architecture of Peking University， serves as chief architect at the Special Architecture Studio. In 2005， he became the dean of the architecture department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology， becoming the first Chinese national to preside over a major architectural institute in the United States.

The book compiles 33 essays he wrote over a decade after he returned to China. They primarily focus on relationships between architecture and culture， literature and arts， as well as his singular thinking about spacial problems. From the essays， readers can track the philosophical evolution of this well-known architect. Readers have already been mesmerized by the inclusion of some of his design sketches as well as comic strips.

Photographer’s Notes

by Wang Yin Shenghuo-Dushu-Xinzhi Joint Publishing Company October 2012

Photographer’s Notes is a compilation of more than 100 street scene photos captured by contemporary Chinese poet Wang Yin over eight years he spent abroad as a journalist. In the book， he employs about 100 notes to illuminate context surrounding photos such as posters on telephone poles， balloons floating in the sea breeze， and visitors at celebrity graves. Wang appreciates French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s philosophy on street photography. Baudrillard noted feeling he stumbled into happiness when taking pictures on the streets， and he wished to capture invisible scenes： voices that could not be heard， smells and colors coming and going without a trace and vibrations of mood. Such things， he asserted， were masked， fleeting， or hidden in a secret nook waiting for their moment.