Xu Yuanzhong (1921–2021)

Physically, this is a lovely edition. It is clothbound in white, silk brocade, bright orange endpapers and a lovely, red paper slipcover, gilded with gold leaf. In terms of its content, one does not find it lacking in merit. It is the standard selection of 300 Tang Dynasty poems with facing translation in English.

The English translations by Xu Yuanzhong (identified by the initials X.Y.Z. in the text) are adequate to give a good sense of the meanings of the original poems. What makes me give this book a mere 3-and-a-half star rating is the introduction written by an apparently eccentric translator with a deluded sense of the value of his translation.

I will not continue to deride him. I will simply quote from his introduction and let him embarrass himself.
(The comment in brackets is mine.)

“In 1994 my Songs of the Immortals was published by Penguin Books and my Poetry of the South was considered as a high peak even in English literature by an American scholar in Melbourne University [unnamed by X.Y.Z.]. In 1998 Minerva press said my Romance of the Western Bower might vie with Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet “in appeal and artistry.” So I am asked to translate 300 Tang poems to vie with English and American Poets.”

Now just a taste of X.Y.Z.’s translation that lifts English poetry to a new level and puts Shakespeare on notice.

Wang Ji’s The Wine Shop

Drinking wine all day long,
I won’t keep my mind sane.
Seeking the drunken throng,
Could I sober remain?

Well, Shakespeare it ain’t .

Despite the bad taste the introduction left in my mouth and the patina it lent to the translated half of the book, I would still recommend it for the library of the bibliophile who has everything.… (mais)