An Introduction to Chinese Poetry: From the Canon of Poetry to the Lyrics of the Song Dynasty

Harvard East Asian Monographs #408

by Michael Anthony Fuller

This innovative textbook for learning classical Chinese poetry moves beyond the traditional anthology of poems translated into English and instead brings readers―including those with no knowledge of Chinese―as close as possible to the texture of the poems in their original language. The first two chapters introduce the features of classical Chinese that are important for poetry and then survey the formal and rhetorical conventions of classical poetry. The core chapters present the major poets and poems of the Chinese poetic tradition from earliest times to the lyrics of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).

Each chapter begins with an overview of the historical context for the poetry of a particular period and provides a brief biography for each poet. Each of the poems appears in the original Chinese with a word-by-word translation, followed by Fuller’s unadorned translation, and a more polished version by modern translators. A question-based study guide highlights the important issues in reading and understanding each particular text.

Designed for classroom use and for self-study, the textbook’s goal is to help the reader appreciate both the distinctive voices of the major writers in the Chinese poetic tradition and the grand contours of the development of that tradition.

Genres: Poetry, China, Reference

496 pages, Paperback

Published February 12, 2018

Reviews

[Jenny]

Overall, I liked the book. I can see that it would be very useful in a teaching context because it has a good range of poems and pertinent questions that could stimulate discussion. The context provided for the Tang and Song dynasties in particualr is clear and relevant, and helps place the poetry.