Laughing Lost in the Mountains : Poems of Wang Wei
ISBN: 9781684581948
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / University Press of New England
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Literature;

Wang Wei was one of the most celebrated poets of China's Tang Dynasty (618-907). An influential painter and practitioner of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, many of his poems contain concise and evocative descriptions of nature whose elegant minimalism offers subtle expression of a transcendence from everyday life. While this purity of poetic expression is what Wang Wei's reputation is built upon, he lived a courtly life of highs and lows in a tumultuous era, suffering demotions and exile, imprisonment and rehabilitation, all of which are evidenced in his verse. Wang Wei's poems grapple with the trappings of worldly life and the quest for enlightenment, painting a complex picture of both his psyche and his Chan discipline. Laughing Lost in the Mountains includes translations of poems running the spectrum of Wang Wei's subjects, as well as an extensive introduction that sheds light on Wang Wei's craft, spirituality, and historical context.

WILLIS BARNSTONE is Professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University. Author of numerous books, including literary criticism and his own poetry, he has translated poetry from ancient Greek, Spanish, and Chinese. His books From This White Island (1960) and China Poems (1976) were each nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

TONY BARNSTONE is a graduate student in English literature at the University of California, Berkeley. His translations from Chinese and Spanish have appeared in such publications as American Poetry Review and Nimrod.

XU HAIXIN is a prolific translator in both Chinese and English.

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