Autumn Willows: Poetry by Women of China's Golden Age [Paperback]

Li Ye (Author), Xue Toa (Author), Yu Xuanji (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

The fabled middle Tang dynasty of China lasted almost three hundred years (618–905). These centuries embodied martial conflict, unbelievable wealth and opulence for a few, and horrible poverty for many. Through it all, an unwieldy caste system governed lord and serf alike. In this exotic, beautiful, and forbidding culture, poetry was revered and practiced by many. Three women poets, especially, endured through the centuries as the voices of their time. For the first time in English, the poetry of the Taoist priestesses, Le Yi and Yu Xuanji, and the slave, Xue Tao is presented.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Chinese culture reached its height during the Tang dynasty, 618-905, and the greatest Tang poets--Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, and Po Chu-I--are the commanding figures in Chinese literature. Tang China also boasted accomplished women poets. They aren't much translated--but see Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung's The Orchid Boat: Women Poets of China (1972)--so Chow and Cleary's versions of poems by three of them (rhymed, yet, like the old Chinese!) are welcome. Li Ye and Yu Xuanji were Taoist priestesses, brilliant and perhaps "uppity"--at any rate, both met violent deaths. Xue Tao was once a slave entertainer of military leaders; well educated, she traded verses with many reputable male poets during her long life. All three women's poems are full of the separations and reunitings of lovers and friends--stock Chinese themes that each exploits distinctively. Li and Yu's higher status shows, while Xue manifests a poorer person's greater intimacy with nature. Each effects the exquisite marriage of place and emotion for which classic Chinese poetry is prized. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 110 pages
• Publisher: Story Line Press; First edition. edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586540254
• ISBN-13: 978-1586540258
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,450,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Cleary is the preeminent translator of classic Eastern texts, including The Essential Tao, The Essential Confucius, The Secret of the Golden Flower, and the bestselling The Art of War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and Moving, September 20, 2010

By 

Michelle Entezari "mentezar" (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Autumn Willows: Poetry by Women of China's Golden Age (Paperback)

Most poems deal with loneliness and longing, such as, "...The longing of lovers separated, is like the light of the moon; it pierces the clouds and rides the waters to the beloved's room", while some make you feel you can smell the Mandarin Duck Flowers "Their verdant splendor fills the scented stairs of stone; like little mandarin ducks, in pairs..." or the feeling of looking out from a mountaintop, "...gazing abroad from up in the sky, my headdress, with its trailing pearls crowns a thousand peaks." Poems worth memorizing and reflecting on.