Essays on Chinese poetry

 

By: Joseph Edkins. Distributor: Lulu. $21.99. 172 pages. Paperback UT. 2016 (1876-1889).

 

Joseph Edkins was a prominent Sinologist whose works cover 266 articles and books. We present here three essays and a section of one of his books that are relevant to Chinese poetry: (1) On the poets of china during the period of the contending states and of the Han dynasty, (2) Passage from the Li Sao, (3), On Li Taibai, with examples of his poetry and (4) On sounds and rhymes (study of ‘Old Chinese phonology’).

Through these four sections, we find a short history of poetry through the periods cited, a study of the Li Sao through several passages, a presentation of Li Taibai with a translation of 27 of his poems. The section on phonology is historically interesting, and introduces the reader to the field as investigate in the late 19th century.

His presentation should be read in parallel with that of Hervey de Saint Denis, Poésies de l'époque des Tang andLi sao, ou Tristesse de la séparation, de Chuci, John Francis Davis, The poetry of the Chinese, and Shigeyoshi Obata, The works of Li Bai.

In this edition, 453 original transliteration terms have been updated to pinyin. A short appendix on Duan Yucai's classification of sounds is included, along with Edkin's list of work and a list of references derived from the footnotes.

 

Contents

 

  • Editorial notice
  • On the poets of china during the period of the contending states and of the Han dynasty
  • Passage from the Li Sao
  • On Li Taibai, with examples of his poetry
    • List of poems translated
    • Presentation
    • Biographical notice
    • Poems
      1. On mounting a tower at Youzhou (the modern Beijing) 登幽州台歌
      2. Confucius – Finding the Qilin 獲麟歌
      3. Thoughts on a quiet night 靜夜思
      4. Feeling aggrieved 怨情
      5. Leaving the city of the White Emperor in the morning 早發白帝城
      6. The raven calling in the night 烏夜啼
      7. A raven was roosting on the terrace of Gusu 烏棲曲
      8. Song of the green water 淥水曲
      9. Recollections of East Mountain 憶東山二首
      10. Sitting alone on the Hill of the Arbor of Reference 獨坐敬亭山
      11. Expressing what I think 自遣
      12. The emperor’s visit to the southern capital 上皇西巡南京歌十首
      13. Farewell to a friend (Chu Yong) going to Wuchang 送儲邕之武昌
      14. A return to a mountain temple in spring 春日歸山寄孟浩然
      15. Address to a friend going to Sichuan 送友人入蜀
      16. A visit to a hermit 尋雍尊師隱居
      17. The lake of Danyang 姑孰十詠。丹陽湖
      18. A pair of silver pheasants 贈黃山胡公求白鷴
      19. Watching beside a fish pond 觀魚潭
      20. Grief on the marble steps 玉階怨 版
      21. A clear morning 曉晴（一作晚晴）
      22. The song of Lushan 廬山謠寄盧侍御虛舟
      23. Coming down the Zhongnan-shan Mountain 下終南山過斛斯山人宿置酒
      24. A Japanese lost at sea 哭晁卿衡
      25. You have no means to cross the river 公無渡河
      26. A visit to the rapids of the White river 游南陽白水登石激作
      27. A visit to the clear cold fountain 游南陽清泠泉
  • On sounds and rhymes
    • Rhymes of old poetry [From History of Sounds]
    • Two Poems
      1. Passage from the Classic of Poetry, Daya, Anecdotes of Tang, Sang Rou
      2. [Zu Yong – The village of the Shu clan]
    • Rhymes of the Book of Odes
    • How was the Shijing sung and read?
    • The seventeen rhyme groups of Duan Yucai
  • Appendices
    • Bibliography
    • Work cited