Liang Shih-chiu (1903–1987), a literary critic and theorist of many talents, was the first person to translate the complete works of Shakespeare into Chinese. Literary historians remember him chiefly for his conservative leanings and his infamous "war of words" with Lu Xun, the acknowledged leader of leftist writers in the 1930s. The essays in this collection consider a variety of topics, tempering social satire of postwar China with light humor, while highlighting Liang's versatile literary style. At a time when the common cry was "to write as one would speak," and a battle line was drawn between vernacular and classical linguistics, Liang skillfully blended the two.

Translated by: Ta-tsun Chen