Oh, let me return! : nature's poets: Chinese poetry of two millennia / translated by Ha Poong Kim.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kim, Poong, translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese poetry--Translations into English.

Chinese poetry.

Nature in literature.

Songs, Chinese.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Brighton, [England] : Sussex Academic Press, 2017.

Summary:

This collection of nature poems of China includes nearly 250 poems by thirty-three poets over two millennia. Part One provides selections from the two oldest anthologies: the Shi Jing (Classic of Songs) and the Chu Ci (Songs of the South). Included in this part are folk songs of ancient China as well as two long poems by Qu Yuan (340?-278? BCE), the first known poet of China. Part Two begins with Tao Yuanming of the Eastern Jin (317-420), and includes not only the well-known poets of the Tang (618-906) and Song (960-1279) periods, such as Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Su Shi and Lu You, but also over twenty lesser known poets. Traditionally, there are two genres of nature poems in China: tianyuan shi (field/garden poems) and shan shui shi (mountain/water poems). These poems are often read in light of the Daoist philosophy. However, no philosophical understanding of nature is necessary to appreciate what our nature poets sing. Anyone who has seen Chinese landscape paintings should be able to enjoy it. But most of the poems in this collection are not ordinary lyrical songs but more often than not songs of longing, in which the reader may hear also the life spirits protest against the oppression of human civilisation. In his long poem 'Oh, Let Me Return,' Tao Yuanming is singing his longing for return to nature, away from the net of dust.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Part One THE TRADITION

1. Songs from the Shi Jing

2. Songs from the Chu Ci: Qu Yuan

3. Songs from "Nineteen Old Poems"

Part Two "OH, LET ME RETURN!"

1. Tao Yuanming

2. Xie Lingyun

3. Bao Zhao

4. Wang Ji

5. Tao Hongjing

6. Wang Ji

7. Du Shenyan

8. Chen Ziang

9. Meng Haoran

10. Qi Wuqian

11. Zu Yong

12. Sun Di

13. Wang Wei

14. Li Bai

15. Cui Hao

16. Chang Jian

17. Chu Guangxi

18. Qian Qi

19. Du Fu

20. Wei Yingwu

21. Si Kongshu

22. Wang Lie

23. Han Yu

24. Liu Zongyuan

25. Bai Juyi

26. Du Mu

27. Wen Tingyun

28. Mei Yaochen

29. Ouyang Xiu

30. Wang Anshi

31. Su Shi

32. Lu You

33. Gao Qi

Appendix 1: "Oh, Let Me Return!"

Appendix 2: Images beyond Syntax

Appendix 3: Thoreau's "Mythology of the Wild"

Bibliography

About Sussex Academic Press.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-78284-429-5