The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets (Penguin Classics)

I love these poems. This book and the Book of Songs are the two earliest Chinese anthologies, and there is nothing like them in the West. Well, Homer and Hesiod. But I live in China and they still speak the language these books were written in — yes, radically changed, but you'd be surprised how many Chinese have studied and memorized these poems. David Hawkes's translations are really quite wonderful—succinct and beautiful. His diction is excellent. The poems are shamanistic, ritualistic. I read and reread them. I'm studying them in classical Chinese, too. There are, to say the least, extensive notes. A gem.

Songs of the South (China) is a classic work of literature and antropology with invaluable insights into shamanic gifts...

Many fine poems, mostly laments. The translator's notes are essential for understanding, unless you were a Chinese history major at university. A glossary of names is also quite helpful.

Really good read

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. The only other book of which I'm aware that also tries to analyze the poems is Waley's, which may not even be in print any more.

I appreciate the introduction and the explanations the team forwarded for the readers. I wish they included more of Qu Yuan's life story to further explain the poetry.

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 2.000 years of literacy. Its future manifestations would continue, using a very similar written standard, until the beginning of the 20th century.The first poetry anthology in the language that has survived is the Book of Odes (Shih jing). The second oldest is the one we have here: the Ch'u T'zu (in the old Wade-Giles transcription. In today's pidgin, it is Chu Ci), usually translated as 'Songs of the South' or 'Elegies of Chu'.The Kingdom of Chu was one of the 7 great states that carved up the Chinese territory in the period of the Warring States (475-221 b.C.). Situated next to the rivers Yangtze and Huai, Chu had a peculiarly distinct culture that differentiated it from the other, 'northern' Chinese kingdoms of the Yellow and Wei river valleys. One of the main differences was the importance of Shamanism in its religious practices: Shamans frequently practiced 'astral voyages' and summonings of souls for the locals. In fact, these oral, recitative practices were probably part of a quite impressive public performance and recitation, with gestures and mimics that remotely remind us modern Voodoo and Santería practices.From the last years of the 4th to the middle of the 3rd century before our area is the lifespan of the Chu noble, courtier, public servant and poet Ch'ü Yüan (pidgin, Qu Yuan). After a small spell of political power, he was ousted from the court because of slanderers and for criticizing the king's erroneous foreign policy (which would lead, a few years later, to its destruction by the rival kingdom of Qin). In exile, Qu Yuan writes the 'Li Sao' ('Encountering Sorrow') before he drowns himself into the river Mi-Luo.Li Sao is a fascinating poem, which inspires itself in the local shamanic oral practices to recreate Qu Yuan's experiences after exile. The Li Sao starts with the poet describing his origin, genealogy and purity; his many virtues are represented through an exotic flower imagery. He censures the king for listening to the flatterers who have forced his exile, and continues with an erudite catalogue of previous good and bad kings and good and bad ministers; finally, the poet wanders all over the south of China and ends in a 'flight of fancy' that takes him to the skies in a chariot pulled by dragons and accompanied by gods and constellations, in search for a 'fair one' (a bride, or rather, in the allegorical context of the poem, a new and wise king which to serve).This poem would stem forth a whole literary tradition and poetic genre which would flourish in the following centuries, and which is contained in the Chu Ci anthology. Most of these poems share certain metrical forms and a common subject matter (they are in the persona of a slandered, good minister, usually Qu Yuan; they have an elegiac, 'lamenting' tone; they include supernatural voyages and vegetable and animal imagery...). The anthology as we now it passed through at least three processes of compilation and expansion, processes headed by the poets Liu An (King of Huainan), Liu Xiang and Wang Yi. The form which we have today is the result of the last compiler's effort; an effort that finished some 500 years after the Li Sao had been written.Aside from Li Sao, other important pieces in the collection are Tian Wen ('Heavenly Questions'), a shamanic encyclopedia of sorts of Chinese mythology, the Jiu Ge ('Nine Songs'), invocations of gods and goddesses by the shamans including a travelling-and-courtship format, the Jiu Zhang ('Nine Pieces'), that include the lament for the fall of the Chu capital, or Zhao hun ('Summons of the Soul'), in which the shaman/poetic persona summons the soul of the king to return to his body and his life of pleasures, away from the dangers of the world.The present translation (the only whole one in the market) was the wonderful work of professor David Hawkes. Although some of its poems frequently appear in other anthologies (and the great sinologist Arthur Waley also studied and translated the 'Nine Songs'); Hawkes' work and efforts are unmatched. His edition is carefully annotated and, compared with other translations, shows great aesthetic and poetic insight aside from the superb academic work and the clarity and beauty of the translations themselves.I only had good words for this magnificent work. Nevertheless, on the negative side, we could mention the shabbiness of the edition (a Penguin paperback), as it would be great to have in the market a hardback edition in quality paper to store this great masterpiece and nice piece of scholarship.

Llego con daño la portada espero que haya sido por la paquetería, excelente libro una pena que se haya dañado

It is an excellent anthology of second-century Chinese poetry. One a able to learn old culture and the history of China.

This is an excellent translation of a crucial text for the understanding of early Chinese culture, religion and literature.

Buona edizione, leggera e compatta, di una delle più autorevoli traduzioni del "Chuci 楚辞 - Songs of the South - Canti di Chu", preziosa e misteriosa opera del IV-III secolo a.C.Peccato l'assenza del testo originale (almeno una versione, scelta dall'autore), da ricercarsi altrove.