Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Songs of Chu: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poetry by Qu Yuan and Others

The Songs of Chu: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poetry by Qu Yuan and Others

Qu, Yuan
Sukhu, Gopal

Paperback

Series: Translations from the Asian Classics

Literary CriticismGeneral Poetry

ISBN10: 0231166079
ISBN13: 9780231166072
Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr
Published: Jul 18 2017
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.90
Height: 0.60 Width: 5.90 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

Sources show Qu Yuan (?340-278 BCE) was the first person in China to become famous for his poetry, so famous in fact that the Chinese celebrate his life with a national holiday called Poet's Day, or the Dragon Boat Festival. His work, which forms the core of the The Songs of Chu, the second oldest anthology of Chinese poetry, derives its imagery from shamanistic ritual. Its shaman hymns are among the most beautiful and mysterious liturgical works in the world. The religious milieu responsible for their imagery supplies the backdrop for his most famous work, Li sao, which translates shamanic longing for a spirit lover into the yearning for an ideal king that is central to the ancient philosophies of China.

Qu Yuan was as important to the development of Chinese literature as Homer was to the development of Western literature. This translation attempts to replicate what the work might have meant to those for whom it was originally intended, rather than settle for what it was made to mean by those who inherited it. It accounts for the new view of the state of Chu that recent discoveries have inspired.

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