Essays in Medieval Chinese Literature and Cultural History

by Paul W. Kroll

This is one of a pair of volumes by Paul Kroll (the companion volume deals with medieval Taoism and the poetry of Li Po). Collecting eleven essays by this leading scholar of Chinese poetry, the volume presents a selection of studies devoted to the medieval period, centering especially on the T'ang dynasty. It opens with the author's famous articles on the dancing horses of T'ang, on the emperor Hsüan Tsung's abandonment of his capital and forced execution of his prized consort, and on poems relating to the holy mountain T'ai Shan (with special attention to Li Po). Following these are detailed examinations of landscape and mountain imagery in the poetry of the "High T'ang" period in the mid-8th century, and of an extraordinary attempt made in the mid-9th-century to recall in verse and anecdote the great days of the High T'ang. The second section of the book includes two articles on birds (notably the kingfisher and the egret) in medieval poetry, and four of Kroll's influential studies focusing on the verse-form known as the fu or "rhapsody," especially drawing from the 3rd-century poet Ts'ao Chih and the 7th-century poet Lu Chao-lin.

362 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Paul W. Kroll is Professor Emeritus of Chinese and a distinguished scholar of medieval Chinese literature, language, history, and religion, with a particular focus on the period from the late Han through the Tang dynasty. He earned his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1976 and went on to teach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1980 to 2019. As the founding chair of the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures (now Asian Languages and Civilizations), he played a pivotal role in shaping the study of Asian languages at the institution.
A leading figure in the field of Sinology, Kroll has held several editorial positions, including serving as editor for East Asia at the Journal of the American Oriental Society from 1984 to 2010, as well as its general editor and editor of its monograph series from 2000 to 2010. He also edited Tang Studies Journal from 1984 to 2006, was one of three editors of T'oung Pao: International Journal of Sinology from 2009 to 2017, and continues to contribute as an editor to monograph series such as Brill's Handbuch der Orientalistik (China section) and De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities translation series.
His contributions to the field have been widely recognized through numerous grants and fellowships, including multiple ACLS fellowships (1979, 1985, 1996), CU faculty fellowships (1985, 1992, 2000), and a Guggenheim fellowship (2007–08). He has also been honored as President of the American Oriental Society (2006–07), a member of the Institute for Advanced Study (2008–09), and an elected member of the American Philosophical Society (2018).
Kroll's extensive body of work includes books such as Meng Hao-jan (1981), Dharma Bell and Dharani Pillar: Li Po’s Buddhist Inscriptions (2002), Studies in Medieval Taoism and the Poetry of Li Po (2009), and A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese (2014, revised in 2017 and 2022). He has edited major collections, including Critical Readings on Tang China (2018) and Reading Medieval Chinese Poetry: Text, Context, and Culture (2014), and has contributed over eighty articles and book chapters on medieval Chinese literature and culture, addressing topics such as Daoist poetry, Tang literary criticism, and political and personal fate in early medieval verse.
Throughout his career, Kroll has played an instrumental role in advancing the study of medieval Chinese literature, offering deep insights into the linguistic, poetic, and religious traditions of China’s formative periods. His scholarship continues to shape the field, influencing scholars and students alike.