Mind Full of Hills and Valleys

This book is the latest collection of fine essays by prose writer Xu Ke, featuring works such as Encountering Zhu Xi in Wuyuan, The Cold Mist of Mali, Zhu Ziqing's Plum Rain Pool, and Li Guangdi Behind the Family Instructions. Among them, Encountering Zhu Xi in Wuyuan vividly portrays Xiyuan Garden in Ziyang Town, Wuyuan. Amidst the whitewashed walls, black-tiled roofs, pavilions, and terraces of Huizhou-style architecture, readers experience the unique charm of Zhu Xi's cultural legacy. The Misty Old Village of Mali Lengdepicts the distinctive geography of Mali Leng, particularly its ethereal mists and the natural splendor of the Golden and Silver Lands in Heizhugou, offering an immersive experience of the local Yi ethnic culture; Zhu Ziqing's Plum Rain Pool reveals the distinctive cultural landscape of Plum Rain Pool in Ouhai, Wenzhou, through historical reflections and literary descriptions by Zhu Ziqing and other scholars; Li Guangdi Behind the Family Precept explores the visit to descendants of Li Guangdi in Anxi, Fujian, and the understanding of his family precepts, revealing the Confucian philosophy embedded within: "e;To govern a country, one must first regulate one's family; to regulate one's family, one must first cultivate one's character; to cultivate one's character, one must first rectify one's heart."e;