The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary, The Full 3000-Year Tradition by Tony Barnstone (PDF)

Description

Unmatched in scope and literary quality, this landmark anthology spans three thousand years, bringing together more than six hundred poems by more than one hundred thirty poets, in translations–many new and exclusive to the book–by an array of distinguished translators. Here is the grand sweep of Chinese poetry, from the Book of Songs–ancient folk songs said to have been collected by Confucius himself–and Laozi’s Dao De Jingto the vividly pictorial verse of Wang Wei, the romanticism of Li Po, the technical brilliance of Tu Fu, and all the way up to the twentieth-century poetry of Mao Zedong and the post—Cultural Revolution verse of the Misty poets. Encompassing the spiritual, philosophical, political, mystical, and erotic strains that have emerged over millennia, this broadly representative selection also includes a preface on the art of translation, a general introduction to Chinese poetic form, biographical headnotes for each of the poets, and concise essays on the dynasties that structure the book. The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetrycaptures with impressive range and depth the essence of China’s illustrious poetic tradition.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a nice anthology spanning the breadth of Chinese poetry, and a good value for the price. One curious omission is that the authors did not include Xie Lingyun, who is considered the progenitor of Chinese landscape poetry.

⭐As someone who likes all kinds of Asian poetry (Japanese, Korean and Chinese) I always looking for volumes I have not yet read. I came across this 436 soft cover book (The Anchor book of Chinese Poetry: from ancient to contemporary, the full 3000 year tradition) on Amazon for a bargain price and sent for it.I received it in a short time and found it to be a very interesting and educational book on Chinese poetry forms. I had a few other collections of Chinese poetry; however, this volume explains in much more academic detail the fine points and variations of Chinese poetry.One of the things I noticed about the Chinese approach is that they often use their poetry verses into songs. If you have seen some of the Chinese martial art movies you may have heard these poetry songs. Specifically, the movie “House of a thousand daggers” one of the beginning scenes has a beautiful song poetry sung by one of the women stars.This huge amazing volume is organized into numerous Chinese dynasties and the various poets in those times. This collection is vast, varied, and beautiful.If you are seeking a very detailed book on Chinese poetry this is the book you should consider purchasing. This academic volume covers the historical aspects Chinese poetry and is nothing short of vast in scope.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Art and Warrior Haiku and Senryu).

⭐All lovers of Chinese literature will know how central a contribution the Barnstones, father and son, have made to the gradual Anglicization (or Americanization) of at least a small part of the poetic treasures now pouring out of the Middle Kingdom for the world to wake up to at last. This Anchor collection is a noble enterprise and a huge achievement, comparable in scope to earlier anthologies such as those compiled so magisterially by Cyril Birch, Burton Watson, Jonathan Chaves, Victor Mair and Stephen Owen. It is worth buying for the introduction alone, but the originality of the enterprise consists largely in the novelty of so many of the poems chosen. Of course any anthology that claims to include ‘the Full 3000-Year Tradition’ is guilty of massive over-exaggeration, since it is the nature of anthologies to be highly selective. And if, in your pursuit of the new and the unexpected you choose to leave out a lot of the ‘old familiar faces’, as Barnstone does, then perhaps the danger is that you may inadvertently give readers who are themselves new to Chinese poetry a slightly false picture of its most salient geographical features. He is a good enough translator at his best to do ample justice to many of those anthology ‘plums’ that most other anthologists consider indispensable. On the other hand, one can have too much of a good thing, and he may well be right to have sometimes wandered away from the well-trodden highway. A good guide is one who makes the tour idiosyncratic and personal, and Barnstone is certainly that. The overall quality of the poetry, considered as poetry IN ENGLISH, is pretty consistently high: perhaps not quite in the same class as Kenneth Rexroth, Sam Hamill, David Hinton or David Young, but still often bright, fresh and bubbling with energy. No library of Chinese literature in translation should be without this cornucopia of delights.

⭐I have purchase many books of poetry for my kindle. I bought this book on a whim (perhaps late night wine-addled Amazon buy-now-clicking, which now I find would be applauded by most of the poets over the past 3000 years of Chinese poetry) Anyway, I bought this book…, then I started reading the poems. What a joy!! The poets and their works are well reviewed and presented in this very readable book. I cannot comment on the accuracy of the translations since I cannot read Chinese, but even if the poems are very loosely put forth to the reader ( as most translators are accused) I still would strongly recommend this wonderful book.

⭐…And take your time. The best poems are in the Tang dynasty, but there are gems throughout the millennia. Worth the immersion.

⭐I have read numerous translated Chinese poetry books and this ranks among the best. Also, the insightful introductions are extremely helpful. I like several of the translations so well that I put the to memory and repeat them often.

⭐Great

⭐Great book as described and fast service.

⭐I bought this as a present for my husband, as we both wanted to learn about Chinese poetry. It is a beautiful, tactile book to look and hold (although the cover and pages are quite thin so I don’t think it’s one we’ll bring on holiday if we want it to remain lovely).The content is sensibly set out – poems are arranged by dynasty and then by poet. Each dynasty’s section starts with a contextual introduction, and each poet’s section starts with a very readable biographical introduction, followed by a selection of poems.It’s good for readers who want an academic introduction to Chinese poetry (there is a long essay on Chinese poetic form at the front) but is equally good for casual readers who just want to read a few lines from time to time. What I most appreciate is the inclusion of juicy bits of history and legend scattered throughout the book in footnotes to the poems and in the prose – I found them fascinating and illuminating. There are only occasional footnotes, and they don’t interrupt the flow of the poems.

⭐Quality New and arrived as stated on time.

⭐I have a new Chinese girl friend so I wanted to know something about her nation’s culture. This book is absolutely fascinating, well written and enabled us to have intelligent discussions relating to Chinese culture. And it was great reading. Highly recommended.

⭐I absolutely love this collection. It is well worth a close read. It arrives very quickly AND PROVIDED ME WITH TRACKING UPDATES! I was able to ask a household member to sign off for it as I was unavailable. Talk about service! It arrived in immaculate condition too! Beautiful work.

⭐A lovely anthology. The introduction is very useful for beginners to get a start with Chinese poetry. I would have preferred a better paper/print quality and would have been willing to pay more for that. But can’t really complain considering the cost. It’s still a good buy.

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