Preface
I am untalented and poorly read, and have little skill with words.
By chance, I met a gentleman named Leng Dexin, who spoke with Master Zhuang, known as Boxian, at the Letting Words Bring Joy Hall. Master Zhuang had personally compiled anecdotes from the ancients and printed them on paper for use in public readings.
He regretted that the collection had no preface and asked me to write one to place at the beginning.
I thought Master Zhuang's kindness was worthy of praise and Mr. Leng's gracious intention deserving of commendation. So, without worrying about my own inadequacies, I hastily put these plain words together.
I believe that when the teachings of the sages are proclaimed and the classics explained, the goal is always to help people understand their words, grasp their meaning, appreciate their principles, and discern their sentiments.
What is worthy of emulation should be emulated, and what should serve as a warning should be taken as such. Is this not precisely what public readings do today? Yet the works being read are sacred scriptures and worthy biographies, written in refined language.
Ordinary men and women cannot understand them. Moreover, public readings are held in family schools and community halls, places governed by ritual and law, which ordinary men and women cannot easily enter. How could these readings compare with this collection?
Here, old stories are selected and retold in plain language. People are glad to hear them, and even without formal explanation, everyone can understand. There are no restrictions on place, audience, or time, nor any constraint of ritual.
They are proclaimed like songs and tunes, and explained like everyday conversation. This is surely far more convenient than setting up schools and enforcing strict instruction: the message can reach every household and every person.
Some may hear the stories and find them absurd, or see the events and laugh at their quaintness. Yet they can stir the kindhearted to greater goodness and make the wicked restrain their evil thoughts. How is this any different from the sacred scriptures and worthy biographies? It can influence customs and morals, and help encourage virtue and discourage vice.
For this reason, I am glad to write this preface and commend your work.
Written with respect by Zhang Andeng, in the first ten days of the Lotus Month, in the year Ren Shen.
