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The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang

The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang

The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang
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The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang

The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang

Overview

The poetry of Ruan Ji has been previously translated several times, with one fully scholarly translation of both the poetry and the Fu (poetic expositions). The present translation not only provides a facing page critical Chinese text, it addresses two problems that have been ignored or not adequately treated in earlier works. First, it traces the history of the current text. The rather serious problems with this text will be, if not soluble, at least visible. Second, translations have been shaped by the anachronistic assumption that Ruan Ji was loyal to the declining Wei dynasty, when actual power had been taken by the Suma family, who founded the Jin dynasty after Ruan Ji's death. The introduction shows how and when that assumption took full shape five centuries after Ruan Ji lived and why it is not tenable. This leads to a different kind of translation, closer to what a contemporary reader might have understood and far less certain than referring it to some political event.

The Poetry of Xi Kang presents a complete scholarly translation of his poetic works (including "Rhapsody on the Zither") alongside the original texts. Many of Xi Kang's poems are difficult and most are laden with allusions and quotations, adding another level of challenge to interpretation. Basic explanatory notes are provided.

The translations are based on the critical modern edition of Xi Kang's work by Dai Mingyang, generally considered to be the best edition available. Important editions by Lu Xun and Lu Qinli are consulted on matters of variants, arrangement, and interpretation.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781501511851
Publisher: De Gruyter
Publication date: 07/10/2017
Series: Library of Chinese Humanities
Pages: 412
Sales rank: 674,092
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Language: Chinese
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Stephen Owen, Harvard University; Wendy Swartz, Rutgers University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 The Poetry of Ruan Ji (210-263) 1

Introduction 3

Singing My Cares 26

The Five-syllable-line Poems 26

The Four-syllable-line Poems 139

The Poetic Expositions (fu) 146

Poetic Exposition on Dongping 146

Poetic Exposition on Mount Shouyang 170

Poetic Exposition on the Cuckoos 176

Poetic Exposition on the Macaque 180

Poetic Exposition on Purifying My Longings 188

Poetic Exposition on Kangfu 206

Abbreviations 214

Additional Notes 216

Part 2 The Poetry of Xi Kang (ca. 223-262) 253

Introduction 255

Poems 266

A Pentasyllabic Poem Presented to the Cultivated Talent (also tided "Thoughts of the Ancients in Pentasyllabic Verse") 266

Poems Presented to My Elder Brother the Cultivated Talent on His Entry into the Army, Eighteen Poems 268

A Poem on My Indignation in Confinement 288

Telling of My Intent, Two Poems 298

Roaming with Immortals 302

Hexasyllabic Verse, Ten Poems 306

Recomposing Tetrasyllable Verse, Seven Poems (also titled "Imitations of the Song of Qiu Hu" or "Ballad of Qiu Hu") 312

Thinking of My Loved Ones 322

A Response to the Two Guos, Three Poems 326

A Poem to Ruan Deru 334

A Poem Composed for a Wine Drinking Gathering 338

Tetrasyllabic Verse, Eleven Poems 340

Pentasyllabic Verse, Three Poems 352

Rhapsody on the Zither 358

Additional Notes 396

Modern Editions Cited 406

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