Wu Language

"Wu Yu" is a volume of miscellaneous notes written by Dai Yannian, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty. The author was born in Changzhou, Suzhou. The book contains about twenty short stories, covering customs and allusions, mountains and rivers geography, famous things, rural anecdotes, etc. There is an article that records the custom of clay doll decoration in Huqiu Shantang area: It is said that wine sheds, teahouses, and flower houses next to Shantang are all equipped with gauze cabinets and sandalwood boxes and whitewashed clay dolls, which are as bright as life and attract tourists to see them. In another article, he talks about "broad beans", saying that they become more mature in "silkworm hour" (i. E. A certain time of the day), hence the name "broad beans"; he also talks about children cutting open bean shells to make small toys - this small thing with local characteristics and vulgar interest can be clearly seen in his writings. The language of "Wu Yu" does not seek to be extravagant, but uses understatement to express cleverness. Dai Yannian often describes a scene, a small talk, or a conversation in one or two sentences, leaving blank space for readers to express themselves. His style can be described as elegant, light and timeless among the writing styles of the time. If you open this book, it will be like walking into a corner of Wu: you can hear the sound of the water alley, the bamboo shadows swaying outside the window, and the small talk in the alleyway fading away. There is no need for grand narratives, these detailed observations and short sentence records can most directly awaken the atmosphere of local culture. Although "Wu Yu" is short, Dai Yannian's writing style of "seeing the subtle" and "seeing the elegant" makes it a gentle model of ancient notes in the Suzhou cultural circle.