Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing [Hardcover]

J. Thomas Rimer (Editor), Jonathan Chaves (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Translations from the Asian Classics | Publication Date: April 15, 1997

This first-time English translation of the Wakan roei shu includes insightful annotations after each passage and several explanatory essays.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A collection of gems from Chinese and Japanese poetry, a guide to poetic themes and their approved manner of treatment, a gold mine of literary allusions, a potently prestigious text for intoning or inscribing.... Through this new translation, the first of its kind, readers of English can now appreciate the true cultural significance of the work and at the same time savor the many fine poems it includes. All who contributed to the making of this volume merit our heartiest congratulations.

(Burton Watson )

Rimer and Chaves have performed a valuable service by making [The Wakan Roei Shu] available in a well-annotated English version... To read [it] is to explore an important but largely unfamiliar corner of Heian court culture.

(Robert Borgen The Japan Foundation Newsletter )

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese, Chinese

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231107021
• ISBN-13: 978-0231107020
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,475,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Addiss is Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Art at the University of Richmond in Virginia, United States. He has exhibited his ink paintings and calligraphy in Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, England, France, Germany, and in many venues in the United States. He is also the author or co-author of more than 30 books and catalogues about East Asian art, including "Old Taoist," "Tao Te Ching." "The Art of Zen," "Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters," "Haiga: Haiku-Painting," "Zen Sourcebook," "and "How to Look at Japanese Art."

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Book, Excellent Research, January 16, 2010

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Manuel Del Rio Rodriguez "Galician Bookworm" (Spain) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Hardcover)

"Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing" is an excellent translation by professors J. Thomas Rimer and Jonathan Chaves of a classic work of XIth century Japan: the Wakan Roei Shu.

The book is, as the title states, a mixture of poems in japanese (waka) and chinese (in this case, you have fragments of T'ang dinasty continental poets and others (called kanshi) by Japanese courtiers writing in Chinese). The selection is very classical and high-quality, including authors like Bai Juyi/Po Chü-I, Sugawara no Michizane and Ki no Tsurayuki.

This collection, as stated, is a classic, and had a very high importance for later Japanese works. Much of the Chinese poetry quoted by Heian writers comes from compilations like this one. In fact, almost all of the Chinese poems in 'Genji Monogatari' are here. The Wakan Roei Shu was also extensively quoted and used later in the Noh theatre plays.

Now to the specific translation. It is a wonderful piece of nice scholarship. It includes an introduction, some nice essays (about the relation of the text and the music to which the poems where sung; its impact in Japanese literature; the frequent calligraphic use of the text for artistic copies...). Many poems have embedded notes that explain tricky intertextual and cultural references. It has useful indexes and glossaries for each language and style. And it makes a clever use of typography, with three different versions to rapidly distinguish T'ang poems, kanshi and waka.

Overall, a wonderful piece of academic work, which is very entertaining to read, also. It would be nice if more translations like this one appeared.