This book (originally published in 1972 by The Seabury Press as The Orchid Boat) is the first representative collection of the poetry of Chinese women to appear in English. Unlike Japan with its long tradition of women writers, poetry by women did not become fashionable in China until the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911), although poems from earlier centuries that do in fact survive will quickly dispel any stereotyped views. Included here are samplings from the legendary earliest poetry of courtesans, palace women, and Tao priestesses to works by contemporary Chinese women living in both the East and West. Appendixes include notes on the poems, an introductory essay on Chinese women and literature, a table of historical periods, and a bibliography.

A Song of Magpies	p. 1
A Song of White Hair	p. 2
A Song of Grief	p. 3
From 18 Verses Sung to a Tatar Reed Whistle	p. 4
Spring Song	p. 8
Five Tzu Yeh Songs	p. 9
On the Slope of Hua Mountain	p. 11
A Song of Hsi-Ling Lake	p. 12
After One of the 19 Famous Han Poems	p. 13
A Love Song of the Empress Wu	p. 14
Mourning	p. 15
A Greeting to Lu Hung-Chien Who Came to Visit Me by the Lake in My Illness	p. 16
Advice to a Neighbor Girl	p. 17
Living in the Summer Mountains	p. 18
Sending Spring Love to Tzu-An	p. 20
The Autumn Brook	p. 21
An Old Poem to Yüan Chîn	p. 22
A Song of Chin Men District	p. 23
A Poem on a Floating Red Leaf	p. 24
The Bamboo Shaded Pool	p. 25
Slender Fingers	p. 26
Red Sandalwood Mouth	p. 27
Willow Eyebrows	p. 28
Cloud Hairdress	p. 29
Creamy Breasts	p. 30
The Emperor Asks Why My Husband Surrendered	p. 31
Life in the Palace	p. 32
Written at a Party Where My Lord Gave Away a Thousand Bolts of Silk	p. 34
To the Tune "The Bodhisattva's Barbaric Headdress"	p. 35
To the Short Tune "The Magnolias"	p. 36
To the Tune "A Hilly Garden"	p. 37
Happy and Tipsy to the Tune 'A Dream Song"	p. 38
The Sorrow of Departure to the Tune "Butterflies Love Flowers"	p. 39
Spring Ends to the Tune "Spring in Wu-Ling"	p. 40
To the Tune "The Honor of a Fisherman"	p. 41
To the Tune "Eternal Happiness"	p. 42
To the Tune "I Paint My Lips Red"	p. 43
To the Tune "Picking Mulberries"	p. 44
Spring Joy	p. 45
Spring Night to the Tune "Panning Gold"	p. 46
Plum Blossoms	p. 47
Playing All a Summer's Day by the Lake to the Tune "Clear Bright Joy"	p. 48
Farewell to LI to the Tune "A Partridge Sky"	p. 49
To the Tune "The Phoenix Hairpin"	p. 50
To the Tune "A Dream Song"	p. 51
To the Tune "The River is Red"'	p. 52
Marriied Love	p. 53
Courtesan's Songs to the Tune "Red Embroidered Shoes"	p. 54
To the Tune "A Branch of Bamboo"	p. 55
A Song of the Dice	p. 56
To the Tune "The Fall of a Little Wild Goose"	p. 57
A Farewell to a Southern Melody	p. 58
To the Tune "A Floating Cloud Crosses Enchanted Mountain"	p. 59
To the Tune "Soaring Clouds"	p. 60
To the Tune "Red Embroidered Shoes"	p. 61
To the Tune "Plucking a Cinnamon Branch"	p. 62
Waterlilies	p. 63
A Letter	p. 64
Seeking a Mooring	p. 65
To the Tune "A Watered Silk Dress"	p. 66
To the Tune "Washing Silk in the Stream"	p. 67
On the Road Through Chang-Te	p. 68
Travelling in the Mountains	p. 69
Starting at Dawn	p. 70
The Trail Up Wu Gorge	p. 71
To the Tune "The Pain of Lovesickness"	p. 72
For the Courtesan Ching Lin to the Tune "The Love of the Immortals"	p. 73
To the Tune "The Joy of Peace and Brightness"	p. 74
To the Tune "Flowers Along the Path Through the Field"	p. 75
Returning from Flower Law Mountain on a Winter Day to the Tune "Washing Silk in the Stream"	p. 76
In the Home of the Scholar Wu Su-Chiang from Hsin-An, I Saw Two Psalteries of the Late Sung General Hsieh Fang-Tî	p. 77
To the Tune "A Dream Song"	p. 78
To the Tune "Intoxicated with Shadows of Flowers"	p. 79
A Call to Action	p. 80
A Letter to Lady T'Ao Ch'Iu to the Tune "Walking Through the Sedges"	p. 81
Two Poems to the Tune "The Narcissus by the River"	p. 82
To the Tune "The River is Red"	p. 83
Remembering	p. 84
For the Record (given to My Little Brother)	p. 85
From Multitudinous Stars and Spring Waters	p. 86
Madrid	p. 88
Evening Rendezvous	p. 89
Student	p. 90
My Dressing Mirror is a Humpbacked Cat	p. 92
Sinking	p. 93
Cloud Dissects Itself	p. 94
Vague Apprehension to a Gambler	p. 96
Woman Wall	p. 97
Sprout	p. 99
Night Street	p. 100
The Pitcher	p. 101
Summer Freezes Here	p. 102
Written in the Sunset	p. 103
To _____	p. 104
Who Stops the Dance?	p. 105
If You Think with Fire	p. 106
Thinking of Some1	p. 107
A Melody	p. 108
The Arrival	p. 109
Beyond Silence	p. 110
From the White Color of Nearness	p. 111
Drinking the Wind	p. 112
Dusk on the Veranda by Lake Mendota Summer 1968	p. 113
The Fall of Moon Lady Before the Landing of Apollo X	p. 114
On the Melting Lake	p. 116
Song of Rootless People	p. 117
Visiting	p. 118
Midnight	p. 119
Harvesting Wheat for the Public Share	p. 120
Notes to the Poems	p. 121
Chinese Women and Literature -- a Brief Survey	p. 139
Table of Chinese Historical Periods	p. 147
Bibliography	p. 148
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.