How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context is an introduction to the golden age of Chinese poetry, spanning the earliest times through the Tang dynasty (618–907). It aims to break down barriers-between language and culture, poetry and history-that have stood in the way of teaching and learning Chinese poetry. Not only a primer in early Chinese poetry, the volume demonstrates the unique and central role of poetry in the making of Chinese culture.
Each chapter focuses on a specific theme to show the interplay between poetry and the world. Readers discover the key role that poetry played in Chinese diplomacy, court politics, empire building, and institutionalized learning; as well as how poems shed light on gender and women's status, war and knight-errantry, Daoist and Buddhist traditions, and more. The chapters also show how people of different social classes used poetry as a means of gaining entry into officialdom, creating self-identity, fostering friendship, and airing grievances. The volume includes historical vignettes and anecdotes that contextualize individual poems, investigating how some featured texts subvert and challenge the grand narratives of Chinese history. Presenting poems in Chinese along with English translations and commentary, How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context unites teaching poetry with the social circumstances surrounding its creation, making it a pioneering and versatile text for the study of Chinese language, literature, history, and culture.
Edited by:
Zong-qi Cai
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 279mm,
Width: 216mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 666g
ISBN: 9780231185370
ISBN 10: 0231185375
Series: How to Read Chinese Literature
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 20 February 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Thematic Contents Preface to the How to Read Chinese Literature Series Preface to the Volume Chronology of Historical Events Symbols and Abbreviations Introduction: The Cultural Role of Chinese Poetry, by Zong-qi Cai Part I: Pre-Han Times 1. Poetry and Diplomacy in The Zuo Commentary(Zuozhuan), by Wai-yee Li 2. Poetry and Authorship: The Songs of Chu (Chuci), by Stephen Owen Part II: The Han Dynasty 3. Empire in Text: Sima Xiangru’s “Sir Vacuous/Imperial Park Rhapsody”(“Zixu/Shanglin fu”), by Yu-yu Cheng and Gregory Patterson 4. Poetry and Ideology: The Canonization of the Book of Poetry (Shijing) During the Han, by Zong-qi Cai 5. Love Beyond the Grave: A Tragic Tale of Love and Marriage in Han China, by Olga Lomová Part III: The Six Dynasties 6. Heroes from Chaotic Times: The Three Caos, by Xinda Lian 7. The Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, by Nanxiu Qian 8. The Poetry of Reclusion: Tao Qian, by Alan Berkowitz 9. The Struggling Buddhist Mind: Shen Yue, by Meow Hui Goh Part IV: The Tang Dynasty 10. Knight-Errantry: Tang Frontier Poems, by Tsung-Cheng Lin 11. Tang Civil Service Examinations, by Manling Luo 12. Tang Women at the Public/Private Divide, by Maija Bell Samei 13. Poetry and Buddhist Enlightenment: Wang Wei and Han Shan, by Chen Yinchi and Jing Chen 14. Drinking Alone Beneath the Moon: Li Bai and the Poetics of Wine, by Paula Varsano 15. Du Fu: The Poet as Historian, by Jack W. Chen 16. Poetry and Literati Friendship: Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, by Ao Wang 17. Li He: Poetry as Obsession, by Robert Ashmore Acknowledgments Contributors Glossary-Index
Zong-qi Cai is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and chair professor of Chinese literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. His books on Chinese poetry include How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology (2007) and How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012), both from Columbia University Press, as well as The Matrix of Lyric Transformation: Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry (1996).
Reviews for How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context: Poetic Culture from Antiquity Through the
Zong-qi Cai is one of the finest scholars of Chinese poetry writing today. -- Jonathan Chaves, The George Washington University Truly a landmark publication in the field of Chinese literary scholarship. -- Shuen-fu Lin, University of Michigan In this magnificent volume on Chinese poetry, nineteen scholars demonstrate the importance of cultural reading. From questions of authorship to ideology, from the poetry of wars, heroes, women, and knight-errants to that of Daoism and Buddhism, this book offers a surprising and enlightening rereading of Chinese poetry and its context. -- Kang-i Sun Chang, Yale University A splendid achievement! Intellectually rigorous and reader-friendly at once, this collection of essays lets both novice and specialist readers experience the beauty and poignancy of classical Chinese poetry one well chosen topic at at a time. -- Patricia Sieber, The Ohio State University This volume joins others in editor Zong-qi Cai's How to Read Chinese literature series as an important pedogagic and scholarly resource. Leading authorities set seminal poetic texts, across genres and periods, in their larger historical literary and intellectual contexts. A great contribution to a broader understanding of Chinese poetry. -- Ronald Egan, Stanford University
