Yin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry of Three Daoist Women

by Peter Levitt (translator), Rebecca Nie (Translator)

Freshly translated poems reveal the complexity, self-realization, and spiritual freedom of three classical Daoist women poets.

Yin Mountain presents a fascinating window onto the lives of three Tang Dynasty Daoist women poets. Li Ye (c. 734–784), Xue Tao (c. 768–832), and Yu Xuanji (843–868) lived and wrote during the period when Chinese poetry reached its greatest height. Yet while the names of the male poets of this era, such as Tu Fu, Li Bo, and Wang Wei, are all easily recognized, the names of its accomplished women poets are hardly known at all.   
  
Through the lenses of mysticism, naturalism, and ordinary life, the five dozen poems collected here express these women’s profound devotion to Daoist spiritual practice. Their interweaving of plain but poignant and revealing speech with a compelling and inventive use of imagery expresses their creative relationship to the myths, legends, and traditions of Daoist Goddess culture. Also woven throughout the rich tapestry of their writing are their sensuality and their hard-wrought, candid emotions about their personal loves and losses. Despite that these poets’ extraordinary skills were recognized during their lifetimes, as women they struggled relentlessly for artistic, emotional, and financial independence befitting their talent. The poems exude the charged charisma of their refusal to hold back within a culture, much like our own, that was cosmopolitan yet still restrictive of women's freedom. 
  
Skillfully introduced and translated by acclaimed translators Peter Levitt and Rebecca Nie, these wonderful poems will resonate with the lives of spiritual practitioners today, especially women.

Genres: Poetry, Taoism, China

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 13, 2022

Reviews

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selection of Daoist poems by three women who lived in the Tang Dynasty: Li Ye, Xue Tao, and Yu Xuanji. They were Daoist priestesses or courtesans dedicated to Daoism known for their poems. The Tang Dynasty was from 618–907 CE and considered a golden age of Chinese arts and culture. A time when Buddhism was considered a foreign religion competing with Daoism and before the patriarchal wave of Confucianism. Women had more agency, so they could divorce and remarry, although I think this was more true for highborn women (correct me if I'm wrong). Daoist priestesses could also have lovers and it wasn't a scandal.

Yin Mountain is divided up into three sections for each of the poets. There is a short autobiographical sketch, followed by three subsections their poems would fall under. These poems are classified: 1) Daoism and Goddess Culture, 2) Love Poems, and 3) Poems in Correspondence.

Sidebar: A morbid but interesting fact is Li Ye and Yu Xuanji were both Daoist priestesses executed by the state in cases where their innocence were likelier the truth than their guilt. Li Ye was accused of being complicit in overthrowing the ruler at the time for she was forced to write positive poems for the usurper. Yu Xuanji was just 25 when she was executed for being found guilty of killing a maid, which the author/translators seem to find a dubious charge. Xue was the only one who lived to old age, and she was part of the lower courtesan class of women who did not really have rights or safety. These women were not contemporaries of each other, but lived in different times.

Translation
The author/translators make a few notes on the translation. Some intentional choices: Not writing copious notes on the significance of each poem, in order for readers to experience the poems for themselves. They only intervened with short explanations when they felt they needed to, like noting "clouds and rain" refer to lovemaking. They chose to modernize the translations to make the reading experience more accessible than to do the most accurate translation.

My original home is in the clouds

Many of the poems, not just Li Ye, deal with nature observations. This makes sense due to Daoist thinking on harmony with nature. Li Ye's poems had evocative references to the moon.

We will long for each other
like the moon
floating between the clouds,
beyond the water,
until it reaches
the Celestial Palace

Xue Tao was a popular courtesan whose fame has lived on for the ages. She had operas dedicated to her and monuments. The authors/translators speculate as to why Xue Tao became a courtesan. She had highborn status and most courtesans were women from lower classes. There are no indications of economic difficulties.

In Xue Tao's poems, she referenced such interesting myths that were then explained by the author/translators in a perfunctory manner. I would have liked it if they did share more of their knowledge.

I related the most to Yu Xuanji. Perhaps it is her frequent mentions to her pile of books near her bed. I felt sad for Yu Xuanji because she was a commoner married at age 15 but then dropped off at a well-to-do convent and ordained as a Daoist priestess, once her husband's first wife was not happy about their close relationship.

The feminism in this book leaves something to be desired. The authors make such a big hullabaloo about the "shameful" poems where Xue Tao dehumanizes herself, comparing her to a bird or inanimate objects when she misses her lover. Yet the authors say nothing for Yu Xunaji for being married at 15 then dumped at a convent at 17! Not to mention how there is this cattiness drawn up between Yu Xuanji and the first wife. There are accounts of abuse, but also nothing is really noted about the husband. I lol at this one part where the authors are moralizing about the excess of a man having wives, courtesans, and the ability to do what with maids. It just came off quite judgmental, as though the west was different. Patriarchy going to patriarchy. Stop making it seem decadent and skeevy, playing into the hedonist Oriental stereotype.

I really enjoyed Yu Xuanji's poem, "Embodied." I also felt for her anger at not being able to take the examination. She was a great poet but due to being a woman, could not take the examination, and potentially create a better economic situation for herself. At the very least, official acknowledgement of her prowess as a poet.

I live beneath the white sun
and pure, clear nights
Free as an immortal

[Audrey Driscoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sought out this book at my local public library after hearing an interview with one of the translators, who spoke of it so eloquently I became curious. I know almost nothing about classical Chinese poetry or Tang Dynasty history, but that did not limit my enjoyment of this book. Without the information provided by the translators about the three poets and their environment, I doubt if I would have appreciated the subtleties of the poems.
The book is also attractively designed, with titles and texts in both English translation and in Chinese. I recommend this book to anyone even slightly curious about the very long history and ancient culture of China, as expressed in poetry and philosophy.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry presented of the three considered poets is nice enough, and presumably well-translated. The book has very good explanatory notes associated with the poems, and provides contextual biography for each poet, and this is very helpful. The issue that I wrestled with in reading this is that I had difficulty understanding how these poets were to be considered Taoist. Clearly they were Chinese women, often writing poems of longing, but the Taoism that is in these poems is something I never really got.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated being able to read some poems I haven't seen from these poets before, and it is always nice when the original text is also presented alongside the translation. I wish the analysis had been a bit deeper and the notes were kept with the poems instead of at the back so I wouldn't have to keep flipping.

[Ommiolgi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, very interesting from a poetry perspective as well as a historical perspective.
I would recommend as well as reread many times.