Late Poems Of Lu You, The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases [Paperback]

Lu You (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

This volume contains twenty-five of Burton Watson's translations of Lu You's poems, each one shown alongside the poem as it appeared in the original Chinese. The volume also includes English translations of excerpts from Lu You's famous Ra Draii (Diary of a Trip to Shu), written in 1170, which describes the journey he took to assume the duties of vice governor in the province of Kuizhou. Lu You (1125-1210), whose pen name translates to 'The Old Man Who Does as He Pleases,' was among the most prolific of Chinese poets, leaving behind close to ten thousand poems as well as miscellaneous prose. Burton Watson is a distinguished translator of Chinese and Japanese, described by Gary snyder as "the finest, most consistent, most generous translator of Chinese literature of this century."

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About the Author

Born into a scholarly family near present day Shaoxing two years before the Northern Song dynasty fell to the Jin, Lu You spent the first nine years of his life as a refugee. He obtained the jinshi degree in 1153 and enjoyed a long official career, punctuated by several periods of exile. His last twenty years were spent in rural retirement in his native place. The most prolific lyric poet of the Southern Song era, he is often called the 'patriotic poet' because of the many poems he wrote expressing his loyalty to the Song and support for war against the Jin, but actually most of his nearly 10,000 shi are non-political. Other themes are Taoist or pastoral, and he also wrote a comprehensive diary of his travels in Sichuan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 73 pages
• Publisher: Ahadada Books (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978141490
• ISBN-13: 978-0978141493
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,093,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)