《马蹄湖边忆旧游》由作者刘运峰平时所写的一些小文章结集而成，内容大多与南开的人和事有关。从本科到博士，作者的求学经历一直围绕着南开园而展开。这是作者人生中最美好的一段时光，也是自己生命历程中最重要的阶段。而且，幸运的是，在经过近二十年的社会磨练之后，作者又回到南开园，开始了自己最为钟爱的教师职业生涯。从一个懵懂的农村少年，到十六岁当学徒工，再到本科生、硕士研究生、博士研究生，直至八年前回到母校任教，漫长而又短暂的经历中，有过痛苦，有过欢欣，有过奋斗，有过无奈，有过失落，有过抗争。作者体悟到，能够做自己喜欢做、能够做、适合做的事情，是人生最大的幸福。(My Formerly-Visited Place around Mati Lake is composed of several articles mostly related with people and stories in Nankai University written by Liu Yunfeng. The school life from graduate study to doctoral study is unfolded around Nankai garden. This is the precious lifetime and the most important phase of the author. And fortunately, after almost 20 years of social experience, the author returns to Nankai garden to start his favorite professional life as teacher.This is a long yet short, painful yet pleasant, struggling yet frustrating, disappointed yet fighting period for the author from being an ignorant rural teens, apprentice at 16 years old, to graduate, postgraduate, doctor student, and the current teacher experience in Nankai university in the past 8 years. The author felt that being able to do favorite, capable and suitable things is the happiest thing in life.)