Elegies of Chu

Elegies of Chu
Author: Nicholas Morrow Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2022-02-27
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0192550446

Elegies of Chu (in Chinese, Chuci), one of the two surviving collections of ancient Chinese poetry, is a key source for the whole tradition of Chinese poetry. Because the elegies contain passionate expressions of political protest as well as shamanistic themes of magic spells and wandering spirits, they present an alternative face of early Chinese culture; one that does not align with orthodox Confucianism. This translation employs literary English devices in order to emphasise the original structure of these Chinese poems. It also examines the extraordinarily vivid diction of the source texts, including of onomatopoeia, ornate descriptions, exotic flowers, dramatic landscapes, metaphors and startling similes. This translation will be based on the original anthology compiled in the Han dynasty by Wang Yi (2nd century CE), and contains a selection of poems that were collected from the 3rd century BCE through the Han dynasty. The anthology provides readers with an understanding of Chinese literature and its evolution from free-spirited, mythico-religious songs to the more formal, polished style of the Han court.

June Fourth Elegies

June Fourth Elegies
Author: Liu Xiaobo
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2012-04-12
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1448129354

Liu Xiaobo died in 2017, the first Nobel Laureate to do so in detention since 1935. Liu was a pre-eminent Chinese literary critic, professor and humanitarian activist. After his hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 he became a thorn in the side of the Chinese government, helping to write the Charter 08 manifesto calling for free speech, democratic elections and basic human rights. He was arrested and convicted on charges of 'incitement to subversion', and sentenced to eleven years in prison. The following year, 2010, during this fourth prison term, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 'his prolonged non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China'. Neither he nor his wife was allowed to travel to Oslo, and the Chinese government blocked all news stories of the prize and intimidated Liu's friends and family. June Fourth Elegies is a collection of the poems Liu Xiaobo wrote each year on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. An extraordinarily moving testimony and an historical document of singular importance, it is dedicated to 'the Tiananmen Mothers and for those who can remember'. In this bilingual volume, Liu's poetry is for the first time published freely in both English translation and in the Chinese original.

楚辞

楚辞
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 430
Release: 2012
Genre: Chinese poetry
ISBN: 9787508522043

Rays of the Searching Sun

Rays of the Searching Sun
Author: Lisa Lai-Ming Wong
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2009
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9789052015453

Yang Mu, the recipient of the 2007 International Prize for Literature Written in Chinese, is a well-known bicultural poet. Born in Taiwan during the last phase of the Japanese occupation, his life and writing have been influenced by competing forces in the historical, political, intellectual, linguistic, and aesthetic realms. Yang Mu's humanist sensibility has offered critical insights into the dangers of binary opposition and ideological thinking. His poetry has appealed to readers worldwide and is accessible in English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Japanese, and Korean translations. This study of Yang Mu's poetics examines the writer's literary choices from a cross-cultural perspective, highlighting the relationship between issues of international concern and modern cultural theories. Yang Mu's dialogic lyric voice engages peoples from different eras and cultures. This is achieved by addressing contemporary crises between nations or by responding to philosophical questions about identity, memory, and time. Yang Mu's works exhibit a true transcultural outlook that will significantly contribute to the development of 21st century world poetry.

Chinese Literature

Chinese Literature
Author: Shou-yi Chʻen
Publisher: New York : Ronald Press Company
Total Pages: 696
Release: 1961
Genre: Chinese literature
ISBN:

Presented in chronological order, here is the entire range of Chinese literature, from the earliest truly historical period to the end of the Chinese Empire in 1911 and the effects of western influence in the 1920's and 1930's. Literary trends have been discussed, but space has been devoted to the lives and works of particular writers.--Adapted from preface.

Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning

Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning
Author: Nicholas Morrow Williams
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Chinese poetry
ISBN: 9781621966234

"This study examines the role of the soul (hun) and the soul-summoning ritual in Chinese literature from ancient times up to the twentieth century. With five case studies from different dynasties, spanning ancient Chu and the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming-Qing transition periods, Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning shows Chinese poets were inspired by the belief in a soul that could be transported away from the body. On one hand, this provided a model for literature, as a therapeutic means of summoning back wayward souls; on the other, it inspired the imaginative range and formal structures of literary works, which followed the soul's journey from the individual person throughout the world and into the heavens. This study argues that the religious dimensions of Chinese poetry have not been sufficiently examined. The conception of the separable soul is a distinctive and perennial theme that has considerable explanatory reach in understanding traditional Chinese culture. Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning will be a valuable addition to students and scholars of Chinese culture, comparative literature, and religious studies"--