Brocade River Poems: Selected Tang Dynasty Courtesan Poetry (Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation) - Perfect for Literature Studies & Chinese Culture Enthusiasts
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SKU:54667180
Product Description
Xue Tao (A.D. 768-831) was well known as a poet in an age when all men of learning were poets--and almost all women were illiterate. As an entertainer and official government hostess, she met, and impressed, many of the most talented and powerful figures of her day. As a maker of beautiful paper and a Taoist churchwoman, she maintained a life of independence and aesthetic sensibility. As a writer, she crrated a body of work that is by turns deeply moving, amusing, and thought-provoking. Drawing knowledgeably on a rich literary tradition, she created images that here live again for the contemporary reader of English. This bilingual edition contains about two-thirds of Xue Tao's extant poems. The translations are based on accurate readings of the originals and extensive research in both Chinese and Japanese materials. The notes at the end of the book explain allusions and place the poems in the context of medieval Chinese culture and its great literary heritage, while the opening essay introduces Xue Tao's work and describes her unusual life history.
Customer Reviews
Tang Era poetry is more than Du Fu and Li Po. The famous, "Three Hundred Tang Poems" focus on the men of the era, Jeanne Larsen in this book and "Willow, Wine, Mirror, Moon: Women's Poems from Tang China" show that there is more to Tang era poetry than what men wrote. Translating poetry is never an easy task. I have enjoyed many quiet moments thinking about Xue Tao. Professor Larsen's novels, set in Tang and Manchu era China are also well worth the time spent.In that era men with government positions were moved from one section of China to another with very little notice and according to the needs to whatever official the position reported to; hence Xue Tao's poems on a friend's departure, probably never to be seen again are masterworks of joy and sadness.
