The Shorter Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature

by Mair, Victor H.

• ISBN13: 9780231119993
• ISBN10: 0231119992
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

With its fresh translations by newer voices in the field, its broad scope, and its flowing style, this anthology places the immense riches of Chinese literature within easy reach. Ranging from the beginnings to 1919, this abridged version of The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature retains all the characteristics of the original. In putting together these selections Victor H. Mair interprets "literature" very broadly to include not just literary fiction, poetry, and drama, but folk and popular literature, lyrics and arias, elegies and rhapsodies, biographies, authobiographies adn memoirs, letters, criticism and theory, and travelogues and jokes.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xvii
Bibliographical Note	xxvii
Acknowledgments	xxix
Map of the Provinces of China	xxxi
PART I. FOUNDATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS
Divinations and Inscriptions
A Late Shang Divination Record	3	(1)
A Bronze Inscription of the Western Chou	4	(1)
The Book of Changes of the Chou People	5	(5)
An Early Commentary on the Classic of Changes	10	(2)
Philosophy, Thought, and Religion
Attributed to Kuan Chung, Kuan Tzu, ``Duties of the Student''	12	(5)
Anonymous, Confucian Analects, Book 2	17	(3)
Meng K'o, Mencius, ``Bull Mountain'' and ``Fish and Bear's Paws''	20	(2)
Chuang Chou, Chuang Tzu, Chapter 17 and other passages	22	(10)
Attributed to Lao Tzu, The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way: Tao te ching	32	(5)
Attributed to Lieh Yu-k'ou, Lieh Tzu, ``The Stupid Old Man Who Moved a Mountain''	37	(2)
Translated by Hsuan-tsang, Abhidharma-mahavibhasa-sastra, Chapter 99: ``The Sins of Mahadeva''	39	(7)
Criticism and Theory
Hsiao T'ung, Preface to Literary Selections	46	(5)
Hsieh Ho, Preface to Record of the Classification of Old Painters	51	(1)
Yen Yu, Ts'ang-lang's Discussions of Poetry, ``An Analysis of Poetry''	52	(6)
Yuan Hao-wen, ``Poems on Poetry, No. 30''	58	(3)
PART II. VERSE
Classical Poetry
Anonymous, Classic of Odes	61	(12)
Liu Chen, ``Cockfight''	73	(1)
Juan Chi, ``Songs of My Soul''	74	(3)
Kuo P'u, ``Poem on the Wandering Immortal''	77	(1)
T'ao Ch'ien ``Poems After Drinking Wine'' (No. 5)	77	(3)
``On Reading the Mountains and Seas Classic''	79	(1)
Hsieh Ling-yun, ``On My Way from South Mountain to North Mountain, I Glance at the Scenery from the Lake''	80	(1)
Shen Yueh, ``Harmonizing with a Poem by Left Assistant Yu Kao-chih Requesting Sick Leave''	81	(1)
``Listening to Gibbons at Rock-Pool Creek''	81	(1)
Wang Seng-ju, ``Describing a Dream for Someone''	82	(1)
Yu Chien-wu, ``Spring Day''	82	(1)
Hsiao Kang, ``A Pheasant on His Morning Flight''	83	(1)
Brahmacarin Wang, [Untitled]	83	(1)
Lo Pin-wang, ``On the Cicada: In Prison''	84	(1)
Ho Chih-chang, ``Written Impromptu upon Returning to My Hometown''	85	(1)
Ch'en Tzu-ang, ``Poems of Reflection on the Vicissitudes of Life''	85	(2)
Chang Chiu-ling, ``Poems of Reflection on the Vicissitudes of Life''	87	(1)
Wang Chih-huan, ``Climbing the Stork Pavilion''	87	(1)
Meng Hao-jan, ``Seeking Out Master Chan on Incense Mountain''	88	(2)
``Spring Dawn''	89	(1)
``Passing Seven-League Rapids''	89	(1)
Wang Ch'ang-ling, ``Silent at Her Window''	90	(1)
Wang Wei, ``Climbing Pien-chueh Temple''	90	(2)
``Second Song for the Worship of the Goddess at Yu Mountain: `Bidding the Goddess Farewell'''	91	(1)
``Deer Enclosure''	92	(1)
Li Po, ``To Meng Hao-jan''	92	(4)
``Late Bloomer at the Front of My Garden''	93	(1)
``To Send to Tu Fu as a Joke''	93	(1)
``Drinking Alone in the Moonlight'' (No. 1)	94	(1)
``Still Night Thoughts''	94	(1)
``Poems in an Old Style''	95	(1)
Ch'u Kuang-hsi, ``The Streets of Ch'ang-an''	96	(1)
Tu Fu, ``Spring View''	97	(3)
``A Guest Arrives''	97	(1)
``Recruiting Officer of Shih-hao''	98	(1)
``At the Sky's End, Thinking of Li Po''	98	(2)
Chang Chi, ``Maple Bridge Night Mooring''	100	(1)
Ts'en Shen, ``A Song of the Running Horse River: Presented on Saying Farewell to the Army Going on Campaign to the West''	101	(1)
Ssu-k'ung Shu, ``In Illness, Dismissing My Singing Girl''	102	(1)
Meng Chiao, ``On Failing the Examination''	103	(1)
Han Yu, ``The Girl of Mount Hua''	103	(2)
Hsueh T'ao, ``Listening to a Monk Play the Reed Pipes''	105	(1)
``Lotus-Gathering Boat''	106	(1)
Liu Tsung-yuan, ``River Snow''	106	(1)
Cold Mountain, [Untitled Poems]	107	(4)
Chia Tao, ``Looking for a Recluse but Failing to Find Failing to Find Him''	111	(1)
Li Shen, ``Pitying the Farmer''	111	(1)
Li Te-yu, ``To Patriarch Sun at Hua-yang Grotto''	112	(1)
Li Ho, ``At Ch'ang-ku, Reading: To Show to My Man Pa''	113	(1)
``My Man Pa Replies''	113	(1)
``Ravine on a Cold Evening''	113	(1)
Autumn Maid Tu, ``The Robe of Golden Thread''	114	(1)
Li Shang-yin, ``Master Chia''	114	(1)
P'i Jih-hsiu, ``Impromptu on a Hangover''	115	(1)
Yu Hsuan-chi, ``On a Visit to Ch'ung-chen Taoist Temple I See in the South Hall the List of Successful Candidates in the Imperial Examinations''	116	(1)
Mei Yao-ch'en, ``Sharing Lodging with Hsieh Shih-hou in the Library of the Hsu Family and Being Much Bothered by the Noise of Rats''	116	(2)
``Shih-hou Pointed Out to Me That from Ancient Times There Had Never Been a Poem on the Subject of Lice, and Urged Me to Try Writing One''	117	(1)
Wang An-shih, ``Bald Mountain''	118	(1)
Su Shih, ``When Yu-k'o Painted Bamboo''	119	(2)
``Reading the Poetry of Meng Chiao''	119	(1)
``Lament of the Farm Wife of Wu''	120	(1)
Huang T'ing-chien, ``To Go with Shih K'o's Painting of an Old Man Tasting Vinegar''	121	(1)
Yang Wan-li, ``Watching a Village Festival''	122	(1)
``Songs of Depression'' (two selections)	122	(1)
Lu Yu, ``The Merchant's Joy''	123	(2)
``Written in a Carefree Mood''	124	(1)
``To Show to My Sons''	124	(1)
Wen T'ien-hsiang, ``Chin-ling Post Station''	125	(1)
Chao Meng-fu, ``To a Pyrotechnist''	125	(1)
Yang Wei-chen, ``Mating''	126	(1)
Ni Tsan, ``Inscribed on a Painting by Myself''	127	(1)
Hsu Pen, ``Saying Goodbye to a Monk from Japan''	127	(1)
Kao Ch'i, ``Written on Seeing the Flowers, and Remembering My Daughter''	128	(1)
``Silkworm Song of Torchlit Fields''	129	(1)
Yang Shih-ch'i, ``Night Rain: A Wall Collapses''	129	(1)
Shen Chou, ``The Taoist Huang Has Died of Alcoholism''	130	(1)
Yang Hsun-chi, ``Inscribed on the Doors of My Bookshelves''	130	(1)
Chu Yun-ming, ``A Fan from Korea''	131	(1)
Wang Chiu-ssu, ``Ballad of Selling a Child''	132	(1)
Ho Ching-ming, ``Ballad of the Government Granary Clerk''	133	(1)
Huang E, [Title Lost]	134	(1)
Li K'ai-hsien, ``A Parable''	135	(2)
``Earthquake''	136	(1)
Hsu Wei, ``A Buddhist Monk Cut and Burned His Own Flesh to Make the Rains Stop-a Man from His Native Place Asked Me to Write a Poem to Send to Him''	137	(1)
``A Kite''	138	(1)
Tsung Ch'en, ``Song of Selling Flowers''	138	(1)
Mo Shih-lung, ``Saying Good-bye to a Singing Girl Who Has Decided to Become a Nun''	139	(1)
T'ang Hsien-tsu, ``Twenty-Two Quatrains on Receiving the Obituary Notice for My Son Shih-ch'u''	139	(1)
Yuan Hung-tao, ``The `Slowly, Slowly' Poem''	140	(1)
``On Receiving My Letter of Termination''	141	(1)
Wu Chia-chi, ``The Grain-Barge Wife''	141	(2)
Wu Li, ``Singing of the Source of Holy Church''	143	(1)
Wang Shih-chen, ``Medicine''	144	(1)
K'ang-hsi, ``Lines in Praise of a Self-Chiming Clock''	144	(1)
Cheng Hsieh, ``Song of Surfing on the Bore''	145	(1)
Yuan Mei, ``On the Way to Pa-ling''	145	(2)
Lyrics and Arias
Attributed to Li Po, ``A Suite in the Ch'ing-p'ing Mode''	147	(2)
Anonymous, Tune: ``Magpie on the Branch''; a Lyric from Tun-huang	149	(1)
Liu Yu-hsi, Tune: ``Memories of the South''; a Spring Lyric After Po Chu-yi	150	(1)
Wen T'ing-yun, Tune: ``Deva-Like Barbarian''	150	(1)
Wei Chuang, Tune: ``The Bodhisattva Foreigner''	151	(1)
Ou-yang Chiung, Tune: ``Offering Congratulations to the Enlightened Reign''	152	(1)
Li Yu, Tune: ``The Crow's Nocturnal Cry''	153	(2)
Tune: ``New Bounty of Royalty''	154	(1)
Tune: ``Pure Serene Music''	154	(1)
Tune: ``Memories of the South''; A Reminiscence	155	(1)
Liu Yung, Tune: ``Bells Ringing in the Rain''; Sadness of Parting	155	(1)
Fan Chung-yen, Tune: ``Sumuche Dancers''	156	(1)
Yen Shu, Tune: ``Spring in the Jade House''	157	(1)
Ou-yang Hsiu, Tune: ``Drunk in Fairyland''	158	(1)
Su Shih, Tune: ``Partridge Sky''; Written While Banished to Huang-chou	158	(2)
Tune: ``Fragrance Fills the Coutyard''	159	(1)
Tune: ``Immortal by the River''	160	(1)
Huang T'ing-chien, Tune: ``The Courtyard Full of Fragrance''; Tea	160	(2)
Tune: ``A Thousand Autumns''	161	(1)
Ch'in Kuan, Tune: ``Sand of Silk-Washing Brook''; A Spring Morning	162	(1)
Tune: ``Perfumed Garden''; Bidding Adieu	163	(1)
Li Chih-yi, Tune: ``The Diviner''	163	(1)
Chu Tun-ju, Tune: ``Nien-nu Is Charming''	164	(1)
Li Ch'ing-chao, Tune: ``Rouged Lips''; Naivete	165	(4)
Tune: ``Magnolia Flowers'' (short version)	166	(1)
Tune: ``Fisherman's Pride''; A Dream	166	(1)
``A Long Melancholy Tune (Autumn Sorrow)''; Despair	167	(1)
Tune: ``Spring at Wu Ling''; Spring Ends	168	(1)
Hsin Ch'i-chi, Tune: ``Spring in the Ch'in Garden'' (About to swear off drinking, he warns the wine cup to go away)	169	(2)
Tune: ``Pure Serene Music''; Rural Life	170	(1)
Wu Wen-ying, Tune: ``Rouged Lips''; Rain Just Over on the Night of the Lantern Preview	171	(1)
Chang Yen, Tune: ``Pure Serene Music''	171	(1)
Kuan Han-ch'ing, In the Southern Mode, to the Tune of ``A Sprig of Flowers''; The Refusal to Get Old	172	(2)
Tu Shan-fu, Tune, ``Shua Hai-erh''; Country Cousin at the Theater	174	(2)
Ma Chih-yuan, Tune: ``Heaven-Cleansed Sands''; Autumn Thoughts	176	(1)
Chang Yang-hao, [Untitled]	177	(1)
Kuan Yun-shih, Tune: ``Rapt with Wine, Loudly Singing---Joy in Spring's coming''; My Love	178	(1)
Wang Ho-ch'ing, Tune: ``Tsui-chung T'ien''; To the Giant Butterfly	179	(1)
Tune: ``Po Pu-tuan''; Long-Haired Little Dog	179	(1)
Tune: ``Po Pu-tuan''; Fat Couple	180	(1)
Anonymous, Tune: ``San-fan Yu-lou Jen''	180	(1)
Yang Na, Tune: ``Hung Hsiu-hsieh''; To a Flea	181	(1)
Anonymous, Tune: ``Wu Yeh-erh''; Twitting the Teller of Tall Tales	181	(1)
Anonymous, In the Chung Mode, to the Tune of ``P'u T'ien Lo''	182	(1)
Yun-k'an Tzu, [Untitled]	182	(1)
Ali Hsiying, ``Lazy Cloud's Nest'' 1 and 2	183	(1)
Yang Shen, Tune: ``Moon Over West River''	184	(1)
Liu Shih, Tune: ``Dreaming of Southland''; Thinking of Someone	184	(5)
Wu Li, Tune: ``Happily Flitting Oriole''; From Music of Harmonious Heaven in Reverent Thanks to the Lord of Heaven	189	(1)
Nara Singde, Tune: ``As If in a Dream''	189	(1)
Wang Kuo-wei, Tune: ``Sand of Silk-Washing Brook''	190	(2)
Elegies and Rhapsodies
Attributed to Ch'u Yuan, ``Heavenly Questions''	192	(16)
Chia Yi, ``The Owl''	208	(3)
Mei Ch'eng, ``Seven Stimuli''	211	(18)
Ch'eng-kung Sui, ``Rhapsody on Whistling''	229	(6)
T'ao Ch'ien, ``The Return''	235	(3)
Su Shih, ``Red Cliff Rhapsody''	238	(3)
Folk and Folklike Songs, Ballads, and Narrative Verse
Liu Pang, ``Song of the Great Wind''	241	(1)
Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, ``Cock-Phoenix, Hen-Phoenix''	241	(1)
Anonymous, ``Ground-Thumping Song''	242	(1)
Li Yen-nien, ``A Song''	243	(1)
Attributed to Hsi-chun, ``Lost Horizon''	243	(1)
Anonymous, ``Song of the Viet Boatman''	244	(1)
Anonymous, ``Mulberry Up the Lane''	245	(2)
Anonymous, From the ``Nineteen Old Poems''	247	(1)
``Green, Green Riverside Grass''	247	(1)
Anonymous, ``They Fought South of the Wall''	247	(1)
Anonymous, ``Crows on City Walls''; a Children's Ditty from the Early Years of the Reign of the Later Han Emperor Huan	248	(1)
Anonymous or attributed to Ts'ai Yung, ``Watering Horses at a Long Wall Hole''	249	(1)
Ts'ao Ts'ao, ``Song on Enduring the Cold''	250	(1)
Fu Hsuan, ``Pity Me!''	251	(2)
Anonymous, ``Midnight Songs''	253	(2)
Anonymous, ``A Peacock Southeast Flew''	255	(10)
Pao Chao, ``Magic Cinnabar''	265	(1)
Pao Ling-hui, ``Added to a Letter Sent to a Traveler''	266	(1)
Anonymous, ``The Ballad of Mulan''	267	(2)
Hulu Chin, ``Song of the Tolos''	269	(1)
Anonymous, ``Song of the Breaking of the Willow''	269	(1)
Wang Wei, ``Army Ballad''	270	(1)
Po Chu-yi, ``The Song of Lasting Regret''	270	(8)
Po Chu-yi and Yuan Chen, ``Iranian Whirling Girls''	278	(3)
Anonymous, ``Poem of Medicine Puns''	281	(2)
Yao Chen, ``Ballad on the Investigation of a Disaster''	283	(1)
Li Mi-an, ``The Half-and-Half Song''	284	(1)
Feng Meng-lung, ``Mountain Songs''	285	(2)
Chiu Tsz-yung, ``A Lament for Fortune's Frailty''	287	(3)
Chin Ho, ``Ballad of the Maiden of Lan-ling''	290	(11)
PART III. PROSE
Documents
Anonymous, ``The Great Announcement,'' from the Classic of Documents	301	(3)
Wang Pao, ``The Contract for a Youth''	304	(4)
History
Attributed to Tso Ch'iu-ming, ``Two Brothers of Cheng and the Mother Who Doted on the Younger,'' from The Commentary of Mr. Tso	308	(4)
Pan Ku, ``The Passing of Kung Sheng,'' from History of the Han	312	(4)
Moral Lessons
Yang Hsiung, Exemplary Sayings, Chapter 2	316	(4)
Pan Chao, Lessons for Women	320	(8)
Parallel Prose
Jen Fang, ``Memorial of Indictment Against Liu Cheng''	328	(5)
Wang Po, Preface to ``Ascending the Pavilion of King T'eng in Hung-chou on an Autumn Day for a Parting Feast''	333	(9)
Letters
Li Po, ``Letter to Han Ching-chou''	342	(3)
Tsung Ch'en, ``Letter in Reply to Liu Yi-chang''	345	(3)
Prefaces and Postfaces
Hsu Shen, Postface to Explanation of Simple and Compound Graphs	348	(3)
Wang Hsi-chih, Preface to Collected Poems from the Orchid Pavilion	351	(2)
Liu Tsung-yuan, Preface to the ``Foolish Brook Poems''	353	(2)
Li Ch'ing-chao, Postface to a Catalog on a Collection of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions	355	(4)
Discourses, Essays, and Sketches
Hsi K'ang, ``Discourse on Nourishing Life''	359	(5)
T'ao Ch'ien, ``The Peach Blossom Spring''	364	(2)
Han Yu, An Explication of ``Progress in Learning''	366	(9)
Ou-yang Hsiu, ``The Three Zithers''	375	(2)
``A Record of the Pavilion of an Intoxicated Old Man''	376	(1)
Shen Kua, [``On a UFO''], from Brush Talks from Dream Brook	377	(1)
Chang Tai, ``Liu Ching-t'ing the Storyteller''	378	(4)
``Professional Matchmakers,'' from Dream Memories of West Lake	380	(2)
Wei Hsueh-yi, ``Account of a Peach-Stone Boat''	382	(2)
Lin Ssu-huan, ``The Vocal Mimic''	384	(2)
Li Yu, ``The Arts of Sleeping, Walking, Sitting, and Standing,'' from The Arts of Living	386	(4)
Yuan Mei, ``Thoughts upon Student Huang's Borrowing of Books''	390	(2)
Travelogues and Scenic Descriptions
Laymen of Mount Lu Associated with Hui-yuan, ``A Poem on Wandering at the Stone Gate,'' with Introduction	392	(3)
Yang Hsuan-chih, ``The Establishment of the White Horse Temple,'' from The Record of the Monasteries of Loyang	395	(2)
Fan Ch'eng-ta, ``A Climb Up Mount Omei,'' from Diary of a Boat Trip to Wu	397	(8)
Chou Mi, ``Observing the Tidal Bore,'' from Reminiscences of Wu-lin	405	(2)
Miscellanea
Fan Sheng-chih, Fan Sheng-chih's Book, Chapter 1: ``Basic Principles of Farming''	407	(3)
Anonymous, ``Miscellanies, Secret H,'' A Fragment	410	(2)
Li Shang-yin, Li Shang-yin's Miscellany	412	(13)
Anonymous, Lay Student Notations from Tun-huang	425	(1)
Ch'u Ching-ch'un, ``That Which Is Mandated by Heaven Is Called Nature''	426	(4)
Jokes	430	(11)
Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs
Ch'en Shou, ``The Biography of Hua-t'o,'' from History of the Three Kingdoms	441	(9)
Yeh Meng-te, ``Physicians cannot Raise the Dead''	450	(2)
Lu Yu, ``The Autobiography of Instructor Lu''	452	(4)
Liu Tsung-yuan, ``Biography of the Child Ou Chi''	456	(2)
P'i Jih-hsiu, ``Biography of a Girl Surnamed Chao''	458	(1)
Lu Jung, ``The Biography of A-liu''	459	(1)
Hou Fang-Yu, ``The Biography of Actor Ma''	460	(3)
Fictional and Fictionalized Biographies and Autobiographies
Han Yu, ``The Biography of Fur Point''	463	(3)
Lu Kuei-meng, ``Biography of the Vagrant of Rivers and Lakes''	466	(5)
PART IV. FICTION
Rhetorical Persuasions and Allegories
Compiled by Liu Hsiang, Intrigues of the Warring States	471	(3)
Liu Tsung-yuan, ``The Donkey of Ch'ien''	474	(2)
Anecdotal Fiction
Liu Yi-ch'ing, A New Account of Tales of the World	476	(3)
Tales of the Strange
Attributed to Liu Hsiang, Biographies of Transcendents	479	(1)
Kan Pao, Preface to and tales from Search for the Supernatural	480	(5)
P'u Sung-ling, Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio	485	(11)
Chi Yun, Sketches from the Cottage for the Contemplation of Subtleties	496	(11)
Classical-Language Short Stories
Yuan Chen, ``The Story of Ying-ying''	507	(10)
Li Kung-tso, ``An Account of the Governor of the Southern Branch''	517	(12)
Vernacular Short Stories
Anonymous, ``The Shrew: Sharp-Tongued Ts'ui-lien''	529	(22)
Feng Meng-lung, ``The Canary Murders''	551	(15)
Novels
Attributed to Wu Ch'eng-en, The Journey to the West, Chapter 7	566	(15)
Anonymous, ``Wu Sung Beats the Tiger,'' from Water Margin, with Commentary by Chin Sheng-t'an	581	(10)
Ts'ao Hsueh-ch'in, ``A Burial Mound for Flowers,'' from Dream of Red Towers	591	(16)
PART V. ORAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
Prosimetric Narratives
Anonymous, ``Transformation Text on Mahamaudgalyayana Rescuing His Mother from the Underworld with Pictures, One Scroll, with Preface''	607	(36)
Tung Chieh-yuan, Master Tung's Western Chamber Romance, Chapter 2	643	(30)
Drama
Kuan Han-ch'ing, Injustice to Tou O	673	(40)
T'ang Hsien-tsu, The Peony Pavilion, Scene 7	713	(8)
Anonymous, ``The Mortal Thoughts of a Nun,'' from a Popular Drama	721	(4)
Principal Chinese Dynasties and Periods	725	(2)
Romanization Schemes for Modern Standard Mandarin	727	(5)
List of Permissions	732