In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu

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From Publishers Weekly ---------------------- Starred Review. Chinese experts rate Wei among the greatest poets of China's classic era, right alongside Tu Fu and Li Po; severe, self-critical, openly political and prone at times to self-pity, Wei remains obscure in the West and shouldn't be. The prolific translator Red Pine has made a striking selection, 170 poems in a facing-page edition with storylike notes on each. Born to privilege in the last flowering of the T'ang dynasty, Wei (c. 737–791) entered the civil service in his youth and became a provincial official in a time of civil war, enforcing harsh laws he disliked, missing his literary friends and welcoming time alone. Some of Wei's poems are pellucid, brief impressions: the sound of mallets at the foot of leafless hills. Others give moral advice, or show introspection: Governing a prefecture takes no special skill/ what bothers me is eating for free. Wei's poetry reflects a sensibility and history that only Chinese traditions could produce. Some of its powers come from Wei's whole life, others inhere in single vivid moments: when will I hold someone's hand again/ the flowers overhead look like sleet. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) About the Author ---------------- Wei Ying-wu (737-791) is now considered one of the great poets of the T'ang Dynasty. Born into an artistocratic family on the decline, Wei served in several government posts without distinction. He also disdained the literary establishment of his day, so he fashioned a poetic style counter to the mainstream: one of profound simplicity. Red Pine (aka Bill Porter) is one of the world's leading translators of Chinese literary and religious texts. After dropping out of a Columbia University Ph.D. program, Red Pine moved to a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan; he eventually became a popular radio journalist in Hong Kong, famous for his descriptions of traveling around mainland China. Read more ( javascript:void(0) )