The Columbia Book of Later Chinese Poetry: Yuan, Ming, and Ch'ing Dynasties (1279-1911) (Translations from the Asian Classics Series)

From Library Journal
This book, a companion to Watson's Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: from early times to the thirteenth century ( LJ 8/84), includes a selection of Chinese poetry from the three later dynasties. The poems reflect the Chinese poetic tradition, being both humanistic and commonsensical ("Now, looking at his portrait, it seems a bit too gaunt./ But who can avoid this in a hundred years?/ All one can do is stop scheming and be calm."). Even after centuries, they remain fresh and immediate. In all, 42 poets writing primarily shih (classical poems), tz'u (lyrics), and ch'u (arias) are represented. A considerate and full anthology recommended to anyone interested in poetry and world literature. Rosaly DeMaios Roffman, English Dept., Indiana Univ. of PennsylvaniaCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"A consilderate and full anthology recommended to anyone interested in poetyr and world literature." -- Library Journal


Review
A consilderate and full anthology recommended to anyone interested in poetyr and world literature.


Book Description
Jonathan Chaves makes available a vast store of rich and significant poems by both major and minor poets from China's last three dynasties. Featured are poems from the Yuan dynasty, which range from quiet landscape depictions to expansive, freely expressive works; from the Ming era, notable for its stylistic quality and its diversity; and from tte Ch'ing dynasty, known for poets who, by refusing to fit into any category, helped continue the fascinating richness of late Ming cultural life. Annotated with biographical sketches of the poets and illustrated with their paintings, this collection is an unprecedented anthology of exceptionally well translated Chinese poetry up to the twentieth century.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese


About the Author
Jonathan Chaves is Associate Professor of Chinese at the George Washington University. He is the author of Pilgrim of the Clouds, Heaven My Blanket, Earth My Pillow, and Mei Yaoch'en and the Development of Early Sung Poetry (published by Columbia University Press).


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Chaves' anthology breaks new ground.A vast poetic corpus, which has suffered relative neglect in China and Japan, let alone the West, is opened by Chaves to the general reader for the first time.


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