Evoking Tang: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry

by Qiu Xiaolong

In Evoking Tang, writer Qiu Xiaolong breathes new life into the works of the Tang dynasty masters, introducing their universal these—of love and lament, frienship and longing, the serenity to be found in natural beauty—to a whole new audience of western readers.The Tang period is the golden age of Chinese poetry. In Evoking Tang, a bilingual collection, Xiaolong offers English translations of more than 70 classic Chinese poems. The original texts represent the work of almost 40 poets from the Tang period, whose poems are comparable in importance, for English-speaking readers, to those of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Longfellow. The anthology is illustrated with 30 traditional Chinese paintings, which are included to aid interpretation and to stir the imagination of readers as they enter the poetic world.

Genres: Poetry, China

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Qiu Xiaolong (裘小龙) was born in Shanghai, China. He is the author of the award-winning Inspector Chen series of mystery novels, Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), When Red Is Black (2004), A Case of Two Cities (2006), Red Mandarin Dress (2007), and The Mao Case (2009). He is also the author of two books of poetry translations, Treasury of Chinese Love Poems (2003) and Evoking T'ang (2007), and his own poetry collection, Lines Around China (2003). Qiu's books have sold over a million copies and have been published in twenty languages. He currently lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Ladysatel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems in this book, translated by Qiu Xiaolong, were written during the Tang period in China. Even thought they were written long ago they still evoke great human emotion. The poets feature in this book covered the aspects of love, longing, sadness and beauty in nature in short, but moving words.

A good read for lovers of poetry.