Encountering Sorrow is a literary work created by Qu Yuan, a poet of the warring states period. Every year, the Zongzi – a traditional Chinese rice-pudding in memory of Qu Yuan – eaten by Chinese is more than the total publications of Encountering Sorrow. This book, by combining annotations and illustrations, exhibits the Encountering Sorrow in a romantic manner in front of readers. Once a work becomes a classic, it seems to be fettered and no longer able to freely release any literature elf to tease readers’ soul. But in this book, the vivid pictures and texts will lead readers to roam peacefully in romantic poems. This version of book presents a world full of contradictions, many of which are unintelligible. Without the techniques of metaphor and analogy, the journey from heaven to earth and the sentimental attachment to goddesses and witches seem ridiculous, but for a work written at the beginning of civilization, it is these illusions that have retained the power untamed by later civilizations.

Yang Yongqing is illustrator, print work artist and Chinese painting artist, with works collected by National Art Museum of China and other art galleries.

Huang Xiaodan is associate professor and master’s supervisor of Jiangnan University. She is Doctor of Ancient Literature graduated from Nankai University. Being one of the students of Prof. Ye Jiaying–a renowned expert in classical literature, Huang has been dedicated to studying the poems of Tang, Song and Qing dynasties.