It is a 1975 edition published by a small Hong Kong publisher and may not be as valuable as a 1940s mainland Chinese edition, but it is full of annotations handwritten by Professor Lo when she prepared for class. Take the well-known snippet of ‘Fire Clouds’ for example. The author writes, ‘For a brief moment the sky gives the illusion of forming this object or that, but in fact, there are no distinguishable shapes; there is nothing anymore.’ Professor Lo’s marginalia: ‘So is it in life.’ Some of the sticky tags in the book became discoloured and dog-eared, while some are still fresh and crisp. She must have reread it over the years and kept seeing new things. From her notes I realize lesson preparation has less to do with looking up hard facts about a literary work, and more to do with immersing yourself into it and coming up with your own reflections.
….. Cont’d reading
Source: Wong Nim-yan in Six Objects: The scholar of Hong Kong literature takes a walk down memory lane