Name: songs of the south
Rating: 4 (74 reviews)
ISBN: 9780140443752

an ancient Chinese anthology of poems by Qu Yuan and other poets

This anthology was first compiled in the second century AD. Its poems, originating from the state of Chu and rooted in Shamanism, are grouped under 17 titles.

Format
352 pages, Paperback
Publishers
Penguin Books
Language
English

About Qu Yuan

This is a Chinese name. The family name is Qu.Qu Yuan (Chinese: 屈原; 343–278 BC) was a Chinese poet and minister who lived during the Warring States period of ancient China. He is known for his contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci anthology (also known as The Songs of the South or Songs of Chu): a volume of poems attributed to or considered to be inspired by his verse writing. Together with the Shi Jing, the Chu Ci is one of the two great collections of ancient Chinese verse.

Really good read.

The Chinese classical literary tradition is quite unknown in the West, with the exception of some of the most famous poets of the T'ang dynasty like Li Po or Tu Fu. Nevertheless, when these and other luminaries made their first verses, literary Chinese already had accumulated a vast treasure trove of texts, and counted on more than 2.

I can't really say much about the quality of the translation as compared to others (Waley, the Yangs, _ The White Pony _). It's main interest for me is the critical information provided about each set of poems and about the anthology overall.

This edition of "Songs of the South" is a revised form (1985) -- rather more extensively altered than Hawkes' modest description might suggest -- of a complete, and annotated, translation (first edition 1959) of one of the oldest anthologies of Chinese poetry. Among surviving poetic texts, the "Ch'u Tz'u" (Wade-Giles transliteration) is supposedly second in age only to the "Book of Songs," traditionally edited by Confucius himself.

Me gusta esta version, hay poco de Qu Yuan, de la dinastia Han. Es sin duda el primer poeta chino en recibir elogios no por mantener una tradicion, sino por tener una vos propia.

Songs of the south

an ancient Chinese anthology of poems by Qu Yuan and other poets

About Qu Yuan

Books

Elegies of the South
Qu Yuan