Abstract:

Huang Kan taught at Peking University in his early years and his teaching handout at that time Reading Notes on Literary Mind and Carving Dragon has been handed down as a modern classic of literature. Its process from a handout to a public book was complicated. It was first issued in 31 pieces in mimeograph and typographic print forms. The latter 16 pieces in the typographic print form are collected in the Peking University Library, which have been lack of research so far. In the early 1920s, Gu Ming issued the latter 20 pieces from the original 31 pieces in the mimeograph form, with the title “Notes on Literary Mind and Carving Dragon”, as a teaching handout in the typographic form for Beijing Civilian University. The Wenhua Society edition (1927) was based on this version, with the appendix of Luo Hongkai’s “Wuse”. After leaving Peking University, Huang Kan taught at Wuchang Normal University and Zhonghua University. He printed this lecture handout (31 pieces) in about 1923, and serialized it in Huaguo. But it stopped when this monthly journal was ceased to publish. When Huang Kan died in 1935, the Literature and Art Collection of National Central University published the former 11 handout pieces. In 1947, Sichuan University compiled the Literature and Art Collection edition and the Wenhua Society edition into 31 pieces, which were not widely circulated. In 1962, Zhonghua Book Company published the two editions together again. However, it needs text restoration since it is no longer the original appearance of the Reading Notes. Huang Kan’s Reading Notes is a typical case of the evolution of a modern university teaching handout. It is necessary to discuss it in detail because it came into being at Peking University with the conflict between rhythmical prose and modern prose, and that between classical and vernacular styles of writing in the turning point of modern intellectual history.

Key words: Huang Kan, Reading Notes on Literary Mind and Carving Dragon, teaching handout