Over the course of a decade beginning in 1987, Yang Mu completed his masterpiece of personal essay writing: Chilai, the Prequel, which was constructed from three separate books: Mountain Winds, Sea Rains, Direction Returns to Zero, and The Old Me Is Gone.
山水散文從 1987 年開始，楊牧以 10 年時光，完成自傳式散文的經典之作《奇萊前書》，由《山風海雨》、《方向歸零》、《昔我往矣》3 書架構而成。