A book to burn and a book to keep (hidden) : selected writings / Li Zhi ; edited and translated by Rivi Handler-Spitz, Pauline C. Lee, and Haun Saussy.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Table of contents in English and Chinese.

Li Zhi's iconoclastic interpretations of history, religion, literature, and social relations have fascinated Chinese intellectuals for centuries. His approach synthesized Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist ethics and incorporated the Neo-Confucian idealism of such thinkers as Wang Yangming (1472-1529). The result was a series of heretical writings that caught fire among Li Zhi's contemporaries, despite an imperial ban on their publication, and intrigued Chinese audiences long after his death. Translated for the first time into English, Li Zhi's bold challenge to established doctrines will captivate anyone curious about the origins of such subtly transgressive works as the sixteenth-century play The Peony Pavilion or the eighteenth-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber. In A Book to Burn and a Book to Keep (Hidden), Li Zhi unseats accepted ideas about gender, questions the true identity of history's heroes and villains, and offers his own readings of Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha. Fond of vivid sentiment and sharp expression, Li Zhi made no distinction between high and low literary genres. He refused to support sanctioned ideas about morality and wrote stinging social critiques. Li Zhi praised scholars who risked everything to expose extortion and misrule. In this sophisticated translation, English-speaking readers encounter the best of his heterodox intellect and vital contribution to Chinese thought and culture.

Frontmatter --  CONTENTS --  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --  CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS --  INTRODUCTION --  SELECTIONS FROM A BOOK TO BURN (FENSHU 焚書) --  PART I. PREFACES 序引 --  PART II. LETTERS 書答 --  PART III. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS 雜書 --  PART IV. READINGS OF HISTORY 讀史 --  PART V. POETRY 詩 --  SELECTIONS FROM ANOTHER BOOK TO BURN (XU FENSHU 續焚書) --  PART I. PREFACES 序引 --  PART II. LETTERS 書答 --  PART III. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS 雜書 --  PART IV. POETRY 詩 --  FROM A BOOK TO KEEP (HIDDEN) (CANGSHU 藏書)(1599) --  THE HISTORICAL RECORD 史料 --  CHRONOLOGY OF LI ZHI'S LIFE --  BIBLIOGRAPHY --  CONTRIBUTORS --  INDEX.

Acknowledgments -- Conventions and abbreviations -- Introduction. -- Selections from  A Book to Burn (Fenshu). --  Part I: Prefaces -- Author's preface. -- Part II: Letters: 1.  In response to Deng Shiyang --  2.  To Yang Dingjian --  3.  To Zhuang Chunfu --  4.  A letter in reply to Provincial Office Liu --  5.  Letter to a friend in the capital --  6.  Three essays for two monks of Huang'an --  7.  A letter in response to the claim that women are too shortsighted to understand the Dao --  8.  Li Zhi and Geng Dingxiang : Correspondence --  9.  To Yang Dingjian --  10.  A response to Zhou Liutang. --  Part III: Miscellaneous writings : Short essays and discourses: 1.  A sketch of Zhuowu : Written in Yunnan --  2.  On he Xinyin --  3.  On the warring states --  4.  On weapons and food --  5.  Discussion on husband and wife : Reflections after long contemplation --  6.  On miscellaneous matters --  7.  Explanation of the childlike heart-mind --  8.  On the childlike mind --  9.  The hub of The Heart Sutra --  10.  Notes on "The Hub" --  11.  On loftiness and cleanliness --  12.  Preface to The Loyal and Righteous Outlaws of the Marsh --  13.  Preface to Su Che's Explications of Laozi --  14.  Postface to The Prose of our Time --  15.  Mr. Li's ten kinds of association --  16.  Self-appraisal --  17.  An appraisal of Liu Xie --  18.  On a scroll painting of square bamboo --  19.  In memoriam, Master WAng Longxi --  20.  In memoriam, Master Luo Jinxi --  21.  Afterword to Journeying with Companions --  22.  Reading a letter from Ruowu's mother --  23.  Record of Master Geng Dingli --  24.  A petition of worship and recitation to the medicine Buddha --  25.  A petition upon completion of worshipful recitation --  26.  A brief introduction to Resolving Doubts about the Pure Land --  27.  Disciplining the Sangha --  28.  Reflections on my life --  29.  The Pavilion for Worshipping the Moon --  30.  Red Duster. --  Part IV: Readings of history: 1.  On the letter terminating relations --  2.  Dragonfly ditty --  3.  Biography of Bo Yi --  4.  Adorned with every mark of dignity --  5.  Xunzi, Li Si, and Master Wu --  6.  People of the Song Dynasty disparaged Xunzi --  7.  On friendship. --  Part V: Poetry:  Introduction to Li Zhi's poetry --  1.  "The pleasure of reading," with a prologue --  2.  Ballad of the North Wind --  3.  Chrysanthemum regrets --  4.  Monastic seclusion --  5.  Lantern festival --  6.  Red and white plum blossoms flourishing at the Lake - an amusement --  7.  At a banquet on a spring evening, I receive the word "Lack" --  8.  Sending off Zheng Zicuan, also for Jiao Hong --  9.  To Matteo Ricci of the Far West --  10.  Encountering troops marching East during a morning walk, I send a poem to Vice-Censor-in Chief Mei --  11.  Composed with joy upon arriving at the Temple of Bliss on the Double Ninth Festival and learning that Yuan Hongdao would soon be here --  12.  Heavy rain and the snow at the Temple of Bliss on New Year's Day --  13.  The glazed temple. --

Selections from  Another Book to Burn (Xu Fenshu) --  Part I: Prefaces -- 1. Preface to Master Li's Another Book to Burn / ǂr Jiao Hong --  2.  Upon Reading Old Zhuowu's writings / ǂr Zhang Nai --  3. Preface to the second printing of Li Zhi's writings. -- Part II: Letters: 1.  To Ma Lishan --  2.  Discussing literature with a friend --  3.  A reply to Li Shilong --  4.  To Zhou Youshan --  5.  To Geng Kenian --  6.  To Zeng Jiquan --  7.  Letter to a friend. --  Part III: Miscellaneous writings : Short essays and discourses: 1.  Preface to Selections from "A record of a cart full of ghosts" --  2.  Preface to the anthology Unstringing the Bow --  3.  A brief introduction to a selection of Daoist teachings --  4.  Written at the end of Yuan Zhongdao's Hand Scroll --  5.  On The Lotus Sutra chapter on Expedient devices --  6.  On The Diamond Sutra --  7.  On recluses --  8.  How the three teachings lead back to Confucianism --  9.  After Śākyamuni Buddha --  10.  Distribution of work assignments in the Sangha --  11.  An inscription for the image of Confucius in the cloister of the flourishing Buddha --  12.  Master Li Zhuowu's testament. --  Part IV: Poetry: 1.  On reading Du Fu (Two poems) --  2.  Watching the Army at the East Gate of the City --  3.  Amitābha temple --  4.  Reading the resignation memorial of Gu Chong'an --  5.  Spring night --  6.  Listening to the chanting of The Lotus Sutra --  7.  Eight Quatrains from prison --  8.  Spring rain on a great house --  9.  My feelings upon ascending the mountain and receiving a letter from Jiao Hong --  10.  After the snow --  11.  Sitting alone in meditation --  12.  A sudden chill --  13.  Evening rain --  14.  Watching the rain with Dazhi --  15.  Hard rain --  16.  Viewing the Yellow Crane Pavilion from the river --  17. Drifting on East Lake with Li Jiantian. --

From  A Book to Keep (Hidden) (Cangshu)  (1599): 1. Introduction to the Table of Contents of the Historical Annals and Biographies in A Book to Keep (Hidden) -- 2.  Li Zhi on the first emperor. --  The Historical Record: 1.  The life of Li Wenling --  2.  Veritable record of the memorial impeaching Li Zhi submitted by supervising censor Zhang Wenda on the Yimao day of the Second intercalary month of the Thirtieth year of the Reign of Emperor Shenzong. --  Chronology of Li Zhi's life -- Bibliography -- List of contributors -- Index.

Introduction -- Life stories : reading "a sketch of Zhuowu : written in Yunnan" -- The heart-mind : reading "on the child-like heart-mind" -- Virtue : reading "miscellaneous matters" -- Genuineness -- "A sketch of Zhuowu : written in Yunnan" -- "On the child-like heart-mind" -- "Miscellaneous matters"

Sketch of Zhuowu: written in Yunnan (Zhuowu lunlüe: dianzhong zuo 卓吾論略: 滇中作) -- On the child-like heart-mind (Tongxin shuo 童心說) Miscellaneous matters (Zashuo 雜說)

Local access dig.pdf. [Li Zhi-Confucianism desire.pdf]
Available online via Ignacio.

Symptoms of an unruly age : Li Zhi and cultures of early modernity / Rivi Handler-Spitz.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Transparent language: origin myths and early modern aspirations of recovery -- The rhetoric of bluff: paradox, irony, and self-contradiction -- Sartorial signs and Li Zhi's paradoxical appearance -- Money and Li Zhi's economies of rhetoric -- Dubious books and definitive editions -- Provoking or persuading readers? Li Zhi and the incitement of critical judgment.

Symptoms of an Unruly Age compares the writings of Li Zhi (1527-1602) and his late-Ming compatriots to texts composed by their European contemporaries, including Montaigne, Shakespeare, and Cervantes. Emphasizing aesthetic patterns that transcend national boundaries, Rivi Handler-Spitz explores these works as culturally distinct responses to similar social and economic tensions affecting early modern cultures on both ends of Eurasia. The paradoxes, ironies, and self-contradictions that pervade these works are symptomatic of the hypocrisy, social posturing, and counterfeiting that afflicted both Chinese and European societies at the turn of the seventeenth century. Symptoms of an Unruly Age shows us that these texts, produced thousands of miles away from one another, each constitute cultural manifestations of early modernity.

Local access dig.pdf. [Handler-Spitz-Symptoms of an unruly age.pdf]