The French writer Michel de Montaigne initiated the use of the term essay, and his works have since represented the main features of the essay as a literary genre. Who are some of his forerunners in such an “experiment”? Why should Montaigne be considered not only as a representative of his time, the Age of Renaissance, but also a precursor of Modernity as well? What subjects does he cover in his three books of essays? What are some of the characteristics of his writings? How is Montaigne’s influence in the English tradition, and in particular, that on the development of the English essay from Francis Bacon, Addison and Steele, to Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt, and then onto Robert Louis Stevenson? Also, why should we study Montaigne and the great English essayists today, as Chinese students of English? These questions are to be addressed in the talk, and the speaker will share some of his “brainstorming” with his fellow teachers and students of English in the audience.