Letter

My recent bedtime reading is "分類尺牘大全" by 王天恨.

I found the sordid volume in the shelf of my father-in-law some months ago. In short, it is kind of a collection of sample letters - similar to those you expect if there exists a book Letter Writing for the Idiots - written in traditional Chinese (文言文).

And, therefore, I am the idiot.

It's an enjoyable experience, with interesting points here and there. For example, "逕啟者", the well known header in Chinese letter, was supposed to mean To the one who open this letter, I tell you directly and is not meant for politeness. Similarly, "XX尊前" was used originally as "XX樽前", implying the sender and receiver are sitting together with a bottle of wine and having some friendly discussion.

Alas, when did the modern Chinese become so superficial ?

PS. I agree the author has a romantic name. Too bad he was merely a poor educated Chinese brought up in the traditional way - too common a species (and therefore of little value) fifty years ago; unbelievably outdated nowadays, but also paradoxically highly precious.