"Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain" by Emperor Gaozong

Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language. In other words Chinese poetry refers to poetry written or spoken in the Chinese language. The various versions of this type of poetry, as known historically and to the general knowledge of the modern world, include two primary types, Classical Chinese poetry and Modern Chinese poetry.

Chinese poetry has consistently been held in extremely high regard in China, incorporating wonderfully expressive folk influences filtered through the minds of Chinese literati. Within Chinese culture, poetry provides an exceptional platform for both public and private expressions of deep emotion, offering a rare vantage point for students and observers to view the inner life of Chinese writers across more than two millennia. The essential contrasts between the Western world and the independent path struck by Chinese civilization are exemplified in the rich variety of the Chinese poetic tradition, making it an interesting and pleasurable object of study for Westerners.^[1]

Classical Chinese poetry[link]

Hand-painted Chinese New Year's duilian (对联 "couplet"), a by-product of Chinese poetry, pasted on the sides of doors leading to people's homes, at Lijiang City, Yunnan

Classical Chinese poetry includes, perhaps first and foremost shi (詩/诗), and also other major types such as ci (詞/词) and qu (曲). There is also a traditional Chinese literary form called fu (賦/赋), which defies categorization into English more than the other terms, but perhaps can best be described as a kind of prose-poem. During the modern period, there also has developed free verse in Western style. Traditional forms of Chinese poetry are rhymed, however the mere rhyming of text may not qualify literature as being poetry; and, as well, the lack of rhyme would not necessarily disqualify a modern work from being considered poetry, in the sense of modern Chinese poetry. For example, lines from I Ching are often rhymed, but may not be considered to be poetry, whereas modern verse may be considered to be poetry even without rhyme. A cross-cultural comparison to this might be the Pre-Socratic philosophical works in ancient Greece which were often written in verse versus free verse.

[edit] Beginnings of the tradition: Shijing and Chuci

The earliest extant anthologies are the Shi Jing and Chu Ci. Both of these have had a great impact on the subsequent poetic tradition. Earlier examples of ancient Chinese poetry may have been lost because of the vicissitudes of history, such as the burning of books by Qin Shihuang, although one of the targets of this last event was the Shi Jing, which has nevertheless survived .

[edit] Shijing

The elder of these two works, the Shi Jing (also familiarly known, in English, as the Classic of Poetry and as the Book of Songs or transliterated as the Sheh Ching) is a preserved collection of Classical Chinese poetry from over two millennia ago. This anthology received its final compilation sometime after 600 BCE.^[2] The collection contains both aristocratic poems regarding life at the royal court ("Odes") and also more rustic poetry and images of natural settings, derived at least to some extent from folk songs ("Songs"). The Shijing poems are predominantly composed of four-character lines( 四言), rather than the five and seven character lines typical of later Classical Chinese poetry.

[edit] Chuci

In contrast to the classic Shijing, the Chu Ci anthology (also familiarly known, in English, as the Songs of Chu or the Songs of the South or transliterated as the Ch' Tz'u) consists of verses more emphasizing lyric and romantic features, as well as irregular line-lengths and other influences from the poetry typical of the state of Chu. The Chuci collection consists primarily of poems ascribed to Qu Yuan (329-299 BCE) and his follower Song Yu, although in its present form the anthology dates to Wang I's 158 CE compilation and notes, which are the only historically reliable source of both the text and information regarding its composition.^[3] During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220AD), the Chu Ci style of poetry contributed to the evolution of the fu ("descriptive poem") style, typified by a mixture of verse and prose passages (often used as a virtuoso display the poet's skills and knowledge rather than to convey intimate emotional experiences). The fu form remained popular during the subsequent Six Dynasties period, although it became shorter and more personal. The fu form of poetry remains as one of the generic pillars of Chinese poetry; although, in the Tang Dynasty, five-character and seven-character shi poetry, begins to dominate.

Han poetry[link]

Also during the Han Dynasty, a folk-song style of poetry became popular, known as yuefu (樂府/乐府) "Music Bureau" poems, so named because of the government's role in collecting such poems, although in time some poets began composing original works in yuefu style. Many yuefu poems are composed of five-character (五言) or seven-character (七言) lines, in contrast to the four-character lines of earlier times. A characteristic form of Han Dynasty literature is the fu. The poetic period of the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Six Dynasties era is known as Jian'an poetry. An important collection of Han poetry is the "Nineteen Old Poems".

Jian'an poetry[link]

Between and over-lapping the poetry of the latter days of the Han and the beginning period of the Six Dynasties was Jian'an poetry. Examples of surviving poetry from this period include the works of the "Three Caos": Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi.

Six Dynasties poetry[link]

The Six Dynasties era (220CE -589CE) was one of various developments in poetry, both continuing and building on the traditions developed and handed down from previous poetic development and also leading up to further developments of poetry in the future. Major examples of poetry surviving from this dynamic era include the works of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, the poems of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, the Midnight Songs poetry of the four seasons, the great "fields and garden" poet "Tao Yuanming", the Yongming epoch poets, and the poems collected in the anthology New Songs from the Jade Terrace, compiled by Xu Ling (507-83).

Tang poetry[link]

A high point of classical Chinese poetry occurred during the Tang period (618 - 907): not only was this period prolific in poets; but, also in poems (perhaps around 50,000 poems survive, many of them collected in the Collected Tang Poems). During the time of Tang, in China, poetry was integrated into almost every aspect of the professional and social life of the literate class, including becoming part of the Imperial examinations taken by anyone wanting a government post. By this point, poetry was being composed according to regulated tone patterns. Regulated and unregulated poetry were distinguished as "ancient-style" gushi poetry and regulated, "recent-style" jintishi poetry. Jintishi (meaning "new style poetry"), or regulated verse, is a stricter form developed in the early Tang Dynasty with rules governing the structure of a poem, in terms of line-length, number of lines, tonal patterns within the lines, the use of rhyme, and a certain level of mandatory parallelism. Good examples of the gushi and jintishi forms can be found in, respectively, the works of the poets Li Bai and Du Fu. Tang poetic forms include: lushi, a type of regulated verse with an eight-line form having five, six, or seven characters per line; ci (verse following set rhythmic patterns); and jueju (truncated verse), a four-line poem with five, six, or seven characters per line. Good examples of the jueju verse form can be found in the poems of Wang Wei. Over time, some Tang poetry became more realistic, more narrative and more critical of social norms; for example, these traits can be seen in the works of Bai Juyi. The poetry of the Tang Dynasty remains influential today. Other Late Tang poetry developed a more allusive and surreal character, as can be seen, for example, in the works of Li He and Li Shangyin.

Song poetry[link]

By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), another form had proven it could provide the flexibility that new poets needed: the ci (词/詞) lyric—new lyrics written according to the set rhythms of existing tunes. Each of the tunes had music that has often been lost, but having its own meter. Thus, each ci poem is labeled "To the tune of [Tune Name]" (调寄[词牌]/調寄[詞牌]) and fits the meter and rhyme of the tune (much in the same way that Christian hymn writers set new lyrics to pre-existing tunes). The titles of ci poems are not necessarily related to their subject matter, and many poems may share a title. In terms of their content, ci poetry most often expressed feelings of desire, often in an adopted persona. However, great exponents of the form, such as the Southern Tang poet Li Houzhu and the Song Dynasty poet Su Shi, used the ci form to address a wide range of topics.

Yuan poetry[link]

Major developments of poetry during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) included the development of types of poetry written to fixed-tone patterns, such as for the Yuan opera librettos. After the Song Dynasty, the set rhythms of the ci came to be reflected in the set-rhythm pieces of Chinese Sanqu poetry (散曲), a freer form based on new popular songs and dramatic arias, that developed and lasted into the Ming Dynasty (14th-17th centuries). Examples can be seen in the work of playwrights Ma Zhiyuan 馬致遠 (c. 1270-1330) and Guan Hanqing 關漢卿 (c. 1300).

Ming poetry[link]

The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) poets include Gao Qi (1336–1374), Li Dongyang (1447–1516), and Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610).

Ming-Qing Transition[link]

Ming-Qing Transition includes the interluding/overlapping periods of the brief so-called Shun Dynasty (1644–1645) and the Southern Ming Dynasty (1644 to 1662).

Qing poetry[link]

The Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) is notable in terms of development of the criticism of poetry and the development of important poetry collections, such as the Qing era collections of Tang Dynasty poetry known as the Quantangshi and the Three Hundred Tang Poems. Both shi and ci continued to be composed beyond the end of the imperial period.

Post-imperial Classical Chinese poetry[link]

Both shi and ci continued to be composed past the end of the imperial period; one example being Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Communist Party of China, who wrote Classical Chinese poetry in his own calligraphic style.

Modern (postclassical) poetry[link]

This section requires expansion.

Modern Chinese poetry (新诗/新詞 "new poetry") refers to the modern vernacular style of poetry, as opposed to the traditional poetry written in Classical Chinese language. Usually Modern Chinese poetry does not follow prescribed patterns. Poetry was revolutionized after 1919's May Fourth Movement, when writers (like Hu Shih) tried to use vernacular styles closer to what was being spoken (baihua) rather than previously prescribed forms. Early 20th-century poets like Xu Zhimo, Guo Moruo and Wen Yiduo sought to break Chinese poetry from past conventions by adopting Western models. For example, Xu consciously follows the style of the Romantic poets with end-rhymes.

In the post-revolutionary Communist era, poets like Ai Qing used more liberal running lines and direct diction, which were vastly popular and widely imitated.

In the contemporary poetic scene, the most important and influential poets are in the group known as Misty Poets, who use oblique allusions and hermetic references. The most important Misty Poets include Shu Ting, Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, Duo Duo, and Yang Lian, most of whom were exiled after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. A special case is the mystic poet Hai Zi, who became very famous after his suicide.

However, even today, modern poetry is still not widely accepted. There are arguments and contradiction as to whether modern poetry counts as poetry. Due to the special structure of Chinese writing and Chinese grammar, modern poetry, or five verse poetry, may seem like a simple short vernacular essay since they lack some of the structure traditionally used to define poetry.

Influence[link]

Chinese poetry early on influenced poets in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. For example, the Kanshi and Shichigon-zekku poetry of Japan. Later on, it would be a big influence in the rest of the world, ranging from the poetic movement known as Beat poetry to the pop song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".

See also[link]

	China portal
	Poetry portal

General[link]

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Chinese art
• Shi (poetry) (the Chinese term for poetry)
• Chinese literature
• Chinese classic texts
• List of national poetries
• Modern Chinese poetry
• Category:Chinese translators

Poetry of particular (dynastic) periods[link]

• Han poetry
• Jian'an poetry
• Six Dynasties poetry
• Tang poetry
• Song poetry

Poetry works and collections[link]

• Li Sao
• Classic of Poetry
• New Songs from the Jade Terrace
• Orchid Pavilion Gathering
• Quantangshi
• 300 Tang poems
• List of Three Hundred Tang Poems poets
• Wangchuan ji
• Sun Zhu

Individual poets, poems, and translators[link]

• List of Chinese language poets
• Du Fu
• Li Bai
• Poetry of Mao Zedong
• Qu Yuan
• Su Shi
• Wang Wei
• Xu Zhimo

Lists of poets[link]

• List of Chinese-language poets
• List of Three Hundred Tang Poems poets

Translators of poetry[link]

• Arthur Waley
• Archie Barnes
• Burton Watson
• David Hinton

Poetic modes, genres, and forms[link]

• Ci (poetry)
• Classical Chinese poetry forms
• Classical Chinese poetry genres
• Fu (poetry)
• Jueju
• Pailu
• Qu (poetry)
• Shi
• Yue fu

Technical factors of poetry[link]

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Classical Chinese poetry forms
• Rime dictionary
• Tone pattern
• Rime table

Influence outside of China[link]

• Japanese poetry
• Korean poetry
• Vietnamese poetry
• Ernest Fenellosa
• Shigin Shiyin (詩吟)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Cai, Zong-qi, ed. (2008). How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-13941-1
• Davis, A. R. (Albert Richard), Editor and Introduction, The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse. (Baltimore: Penguin Books (1970).
• Holland, Gill (1986). Keep an Eye on South Mountain: Translations of Chinese Poetry.
• Liu, James J.Y. (1966). The Art of Chinese Poetry. ISBN 0-226-48687-7
• Lupke, Christopher (2008). New Perspectives on Contemporary Chinese Poetry.
• Owen, Stephen (1996). An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911.
• Yip, Wai-lim (1997). Chinese Poetry: An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres . Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-1946-2

External links[link]

• The Red Brush - Writing Women of Imperial China
• Chinese Poetry in English at Poems Found in Translation

Qianlong Emperor 乾隆帝
6th Qing Emperor of China
Reign	8 October 1735 – 9 February 1796 (&1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000124000000124 days)
Predecessor	Yongzheng Emperor
Successor	Jiaqing Emperor
Time in Power	8 October 1735 – 7 February 1799 (&1000000000000006300000063 years, &10000000000000122000000122 days)
Empress	Empress Xiaoxianchun Ulanara, the Step Empress Empress Xiaoyichun
Imperial Noble Consort	Imperial Noble Consort Huixian Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui Imperial Noble Consort Qinggong Imperial Noble Consort Jiwen Imperial Noble Consort Shujia
among others... Issue
Yonghuang Yonglian Kurun Princess Hejing Yongzhang Yongcheng Yongqi Yongrong Heshuo Princess Hejia Yongcong Yongxuan Yongxing Yongqi Yongjing Kurun Princess Hejing Yonglu Heshuo Princess Heke Yongyan Yonglin Kurun Princess Hexiao
Full name
Chinese: Aixin-Jueluo Hongli 愛新覺羅弘曆 Manchu: Aisin-Gioro hala i Hung Li
Posthumous name
Emperor Fatian Longyun Zhicheng Xianjue Tiyuan Liji Fuwen Fenwu Qinming Xiaoci Shensheng Chun 法天隆運至誠先覺體元立極敷文奮武欽明孝慈神聖純皇帝
Temple name
Qing Gaozong 清高宗
Father	Yongzheng Emperor
Mother	Empress Xiaoshengxian
Born	(1711-09-25)25 September 1711
Died	7 February 1799(1799-02-07) (aged 87)
Burial	Eastern Qing Tombs, Zunhua

The Qianlong Emperor, born Hongli Chinese: 弘曆(Manchu language: ᡥᡠᠩ ᠯᡳ  ;Möllendorff transliteration: hung li), 25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799) was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796.¹ On 8 February, he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor – a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor.^[1] Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799. Although his early years saw the continuation of an era of prosperity in China, his final years saw troubles at home and abroad converge on the Qing Empire.

Early years[link]

Hongli was adored both by his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor and his father, the Yongzheng Emperor. Some historians argue that the main reason why Kangxi Emperor appointed Yongzheng as his successor was because Qianlong was his favourite grandson. He felt that Hongli's mannerisms were very close to his own. As a teenager he was very capable in martial arts, and possessed a high literary ability.

After his father's succession in 1722, Hongli became the Prince Bao (宝亲王/寶親王). Like many of his uncles, Hongli entered into a battle of succession with his older half-brother Hongshi, who had the support of a large faction of court officials, as well as Yinsi, Prince Lian. For many years the Yongzheng Emperor did not appoint anyone to the position of Crown Prince, but many in court speculated his favoring of Hongli. Hongli went on inspection trips to the south, and was known to be an able negotiator and enforcer. He was also chosen as chief regent on occasions, when his father was away from the capital.

Ascension to the throne[link]

Even before Hongli's succession was read out to the assembled court, it was widely known who the new emperor would be. The young Hongli had been a favorite of his grandfather, Kangxi, and his father alike; Yongzheng had entrusted a number of important ritual tasks to him while Hongli was still a prince, and included him in important court discussions of military strategy. Hoping to avoid repetition of the succession crisis that had tainted his own accession to the throne, he had the name of his successor placed in a sealed box secured behind the tablet over the throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Gong 乾清宫). The name in the box was to be revealed to other members of the imperial family in the presence of all senior ministers only upon the death of the Emperor. Yongzheng died suddenly in 1735, the will was taken out and read out before the entire Qing Court, and Hongli became the 6th Manchu Emperor of China. He took the era name of Qianlong (乾隆), 乾 means heaven, 隆 means eminence, which means "Lasting Eminence".

Frontier wars[link]

Military costume of Emperor Qianlong. Musée de l'Armée, Paris.

Chinese soldier of Emperor Qianlong, by William Alexander, 1793.

The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings

Qianlong Emperor watching a wrestling match.

The emperor in old age

The Qianlong Emperor in Armor on Horseback, by Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione(Long shining)(1688–1766 AD).

Consorts of Emperor Qianlong

Consorts and children of Emperor Qianlong

Emperor Qianlong in his study, painting by Giuseppe Castiglione, 18th century

The Qianlong Emperor was a successful military leader. Immediately after ascending the throne, he sent armies to suppress the Miao rebellion. His later campaigns greatly expanded the territory controlled by the Qing dynasty. This was made possible not only by Qing strength, but also by the disunity and declining strength of the Inner Asian peoples. Under Qianlong, Dzungar Khanate was incorporated into the Qing dynasty's rule and renamed Xinjiang, while to the West, Ili was conquered and garrisoned. The incorporation of Xinjiang into the Qing empire resulted from the final defeat and destruction of the Dzungars (or Zunghars), a coalition of Western Mongol tribes. According to Qing scholar Wei Yuan, 40% of the 600,000 Zunghar people were killed by smallpox, 20% fled to Russia or Kazakh tribes, and 30% were killed by the army,^[2][3] in what Clarke described as "the complete destruction of not only the Zunghar state but of the Zunghars as a people."^[4] Historian Peter Perdue has argued that the decimation of the Dzungars was the result of an explicit policy of massacre launched by the Qianlong emperor^[3] (See Zunghar Khanate#Fall).

Throughout this period there were continued Mongol interventions in Tibet and a reciprocal spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. After the Lhasa riot of 1750 he sent armies into Tibet and firmly established the Dalai Lama as ruler, with a Qing resident and garrison to preserve Chinese sovereignty.^[5] Further afield, military campaigns against Nepalese, and Gurkhas forced these peoples to submit and send tribute.

The Qianlong Emperor sought to conquer Burma to the south, but the Sino–Burmese War ended in complete failure. He initially believed that it would be an easy victory against a barbarian tribe, and sent only the Green Standard Army based in Yunnan, which borders Burma. The Qing invasion came as the majority of Burmese forces were deployed in their latest invasion of Siam. Nonetheless, battle-hardened Burmese troops defeated the first two invasions of 1765–1766 and 1766–1767 at the border. The regional conflict now escalated to a major war that involved military maneuvers nationwide in both countries. The third invasion (1767–1768) led by the elite Manchu Bannermen nearly succeeded, penetrating deep into central Burma within a few days' march from the capital, Ava.^[6] But the Bannermen of northern China could not cope with unfamiliar tropical terrains and lethal endemic diseases, and were driven back with heavy losses. After the close-call, King Hsinbyushin redeployed his armies from Siam to the Chinese front. The fourth and largest invasion got bogged down at the frontier. With the Qing forces completely encircled, a truce was reached between the field commanders of the two sides in December 1769. The Qing kept a heavy military lineup in the border areas of Yunnan for about one decade in an attempt to wage another war while imposing a ban on inter-border trade for two decades. When Burma and China resumed a diplomatic relationship in 1790, the Qing unilaterally viewed the act as Burmese submission, and claimed victory.^[7]

The circumstances in Vietnam were not successful either. In 1787 the last Le king Le Chieu Thong fled Vietnam and formally requested that he be restored to his throne in Thanglong (Hanoi today). The Qianlong Emperor agreed and sent a large army into Vietnam to remove the Tay Son (peasant rebels who had captured all of Vietnam). The capital, Thanglong, was conquered in 1788 but a few months later, the Chinese army was defeated and the invasion turned into a debacle due to the surprise attack during Tết by Nguyen Hue, the second and most capable of the three Tay Son brothers. The Chinese^[who?] gave formal protection to the Le emperor and his family, and would not intervene in Vietnam for another 90 years.

Despite setbacks in the south, overall the Qianlong Emperor's military expansion nearly doubled the area of the already vast empire, and brought into the fold many non-Han-Chinese peoples—such as Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Evenks and Mongols—who were potentially hostile. It was also a very expensive enterprise; the funds in the Imperial Treasury were almost all put into military expeditions.^[8] Though the wars were successful, they were not overwhelmingly so. The army declined noticeably and had a difficult time facing some enemies: the Jin Chuan area took 2–3 years to conquer—at first the Qing army were mauled, though Yue Zhongqi later took control of the situation. The battle with the Dzungars was closely fought, and caused heavy losses on both sides.

At the end of the frontier wars, the army had started to weaken significantly. In addition to a more lenient military system, warlords became satisfied with their lifestyles. Since most of the warring had taken place, warlords no longer saw any reason to train their armies, resulting in a rapid military decline by the end of Qianlong's reign. This is the main reason for the military's failure against the White Lotus Sect, at the very end of Qianlong's years.

Cultural achievements[link]

The Qianlong Emperor was a major patron of the arts, seeing himself as an important "preserver and restorer" of Chinese culture. He had an insatiable appetite for collecting, and acquired much of China's "great private collections" by any means necessary, and "reintegrated their treasures into the imperial collection."^[9] Qianlong, more than any other Manchu emperor, lavished the imperial collection with his attention and effort:

The imperial collection had its origins in the first century B.C., and had gone through many vicissitudes of fire, civil wars and foreign invasions in the centuries that followed. But it was Qianlong who lavished the greatest attention on it, certainly of any of the Manchu rulers.... One of the many roles played by Qianlong, with his customary diligence, was that of the emperor as collector and curator. ...how carefully Qianlong followed the art market in rare paintings and antiquities, using a team of cultural advisers, from elderly Chinese literati to newly fledged Manchu connoisseurs. These men would help the emperor spot which great private collections might be coming up for sale, either because the fortunes of some previously rich merchant family were unraveling or because the precious objects acquired by Manchu or Chinese grandees during the chaos of the conquest period were no longer valued by those families’ surviving heirs. Sometimes, too, Qianlong would pressure or even force wealthy courtiers into yielding up choice art objects: he did this by pointing out failings in their work, which might be excused if they made a certain “gift,” or, in a couple of celebrated cases, by persuading the current owners that only the secure walls of the forbidden City and its guardians could save some precious painting from theft or from fire.^[10]

His massive art collection became an intimate part of his life; he took landscape paintings with him on his travels in order to compare them with the actual landscapes, or to hang them in special rooms in palaces where he lodged, to inscribe them on every visit there.^[9] "He also regularly added poetic inscriptions to the paintings of the imperial collection, following the example of the emperors of the Song dynasty and the literati painters of the Ming. They were a mark of distinction for the work, and a visible sign of his rightful role as Emperor. Most particular to the Qianlong Emperor is another type of inscription, revealing a unique practice of dealing with works of art that he seems to have developed for himself. On certain fixed occasions over a long period he contemplated a number of paintings or works of calligraphy which possessed special meaning for him, inscribing each regularly with mostly private notes on the circumstances of enjoying them, using them almost as a diary."^[9]

"Most of the several thousand jade items in the imperial collection date from his reign. The Emperor was also particularly interested in collecting ancient bronzes, bronze mirrors and seals,"^[9] in addition to pottery, ceramics and applied arts such as enameling, metal work and lacquer work, which flourished during his reign; a substantial part of his collection is in the Percival David Foundation in London. The Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum also have good collections of Qianlong period Art.

"The Qianlong Emperor was a passionate poet and essayist. In his collected writings, which were published in a tenfold series between 1749 and 1800, over 40,000 poems and 1,300 prose texts are listed, making him one of the most prolific writers of all time. There is a long tradition of poems of this sort in praise of particular objects ('yongwu shi), and the Qianlong Emperor used it in order to link his name both physically and intellectually with ancient artistic tradition."^[9]

One of Qianlong’s grandest projects was to "assemble a team of China’s finest scholars for the purpose of assembling, editing, and printing the largest collection ever made of Chinese philosophy, history, and literature."^[10] Known as The Four Treasuries project, or Siku Quanshu (四庫全書) it was published in 36,000 volumes, containing about 3450 complete works and employing as many as 15,000 copyists. It preserved numerous books, but was also intended as a way to ferret out and suppress political opponents, requiring the "careful examination of private libraries to assemble a list of around eleven thousand works from the past, of which about a third were chosen for publication. The works not included were either summarized or—in a good many cases—scheduled for destruction."^[10]

Burning of books and modification of texts[link]

Some 2,300 works were listed for total suppression and another 350 for partial suppression. The aim was to destroy the writings that were anti-Qing or rebellious, that insulted previous "barbarian" dynasties, or that dealt with frontier or defense problems.^[11]

The full editing of Siku Quanshu was completed in about ten years; during these ten years, 3100 titles (or works), about 150,000 copies of books were either burnt or banned. Of those volumes that had been categorized into Siku Quanshu, many were subjected to deletion and modification. Books published during the Ming dynasty suffered the greatest damage.^[12]

The authority would judge any single character or any single sentence's neutrality; if the authority had decided these words, or sentence were derogatory or cynical towards the rulers, then persecution would begin.^[13] In Qianlong's time, there were 53 cases of literary inquisition, resulting in the victims being beheaded, or corpses being mutilated, or victims being slowly sliced into pieces until death (Lingchi).

European styles[link]

Architecturally, Qianlong took personal interest in the expansion of the Old Summer Palace and commissioned the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione for the construction of the Xiyanglou (西洋楼), or the Western-style mansion, to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. He also commissioned the French Jesuit Michel Benoist, to design a series of timed waterworks and fountains complete with underground machinery and pipes, for the amusement of the Imperial family. The French Jesuit Jean Denis Attiret also became "Painter to the Emperor" Qianlong.

During his reign the Emin Minaret was built in Turpan to commemorate his father.

Later years[link]

In his later years, Qianlong was spoiled with power and glory, becoming disillusioned and complacent in his reign, placing his trust in corrupt officials like Yu Minzhong (于敏中), and later Heshen (和珅).

As Heshen was the highest ranked minister and most favoured by Qianlong at the time, the day-to-day governance of the country was left in his hands, while Qianlong himself indulged in the arts, luxuries and literature. When Heshen was executed it was found that his personal fortune exceeded that of the country's depleted treasury, amount to 900,000,000 taels of silver, the total of 12 years of Treasury surplus of Manchu Qing court.^[14]

Qianlong began his reign with about 33,950,000 taels of silver in Treasury surplus.^{[citation needed]} At the peak of Qianlong's reign, around 1775, even with further tax cuts, the treasury surplus still reached 73,900,000 taels, a record unmatched by his predecessors, Kangxi or Yongzheng both of whom had implemented remarkable tax cut policies.^{[citation needed]}

However, due to numerous factors such as long term embezzlement and corruption by officials, frequent expeditions South, huge palace constructions, many war and rebellion campaigns as well as his own extravagant lifestyle, all of these cost the treasury a total of 150,200,000 silver taels.^{[citation needed]} This, coupled with his senior age and the lack of political reforms, ushered the beginning of the gradual decline and eventual demise of the Qing dynasty and empire, casting a shadow over his glorious and brilliant political life.^[15]

Macartney Embassy[link]

Lord Macartney's embassy, 1793.

The French Jesuit Joseph-Marie Amiot (1718–1793) was the official translator of Western languages for Emperor Qianlong.

Illustration depicting the last European delegation to be received at the Qianlong Court in 1795 – Isaac Titsingh (seated European with hat, far left) and A.E. van Braam Houckgeest (seated European without hat).

During the mid-eighteenth century, Qianlong began to face pressures from the West to increase foreign trade. The proposed cultural exchange between the British Empire at the time and the Qing Empire collapsed due to many factors. Firstly, there was a lack of any precedent interaction with overseas foreign kingdoms apart from neighbouring tributory states to guide Qianlong towards a more informed response. Furthermore, competing worldviews that were incompatible between China and Britain, the former holding entrenched beliefs that China was the "central kingdom", and the latter's push for rapid liberalization of trade relations, worsened ties.

George Macartney, was sent by King George III as ambassador extraordinary to seek a range of trade concessions. He was granted an audience with the Qianlong Emperor, and attended the Emperor's 80th birthday. There is continued discussion about the nature of the audience, and what level of ceremonials were performed. Demands from the Qing Court that the British Trade ambassadors kneel and perform the kowtow were strongly resisted by Macartney, and debate continues as to what exactly occurred, differing opinions recorded by Qing courtiers and British delegates.^[16]

A description of the Emperor is provided in the account of one of the visiting Englishmen, Aeneas Anderson:

The Emperor is about five feet ten inches in height, and of a slender but elegant form; his complexion is comparatively fair, though his eyes are dark; his nose is rather aquiline, and the whole of his countenance presents a perfect regularity of feature, which, by no means, announce the great age he is said to have attained; his person is attracting, and his deportment accompanies by an affability, which, without lessening the dignity of the prince, evinces the amiable character of the man. His dress consisted of a loose robe of yellow silk, a cap of black velvet with a red ball on the top, and adorned with a peacock's feather, which is the peculiar distinction of mandarins of the first class. He wore silk boots embroidered with gold, and a sash of blue girded his waist.^[17]

It is uncertain whether Anderson actually saw the Emperor, or repeated another's sighting, as he was not involved in the ceremonies.

George Macartney's Manchu Qing observations[link]

In George Macartney's memoirs, there were many passages describing what was, in his opinion, an overall poor quality of life for the Chinese under Qing rule. Macartney expressed opinions which were widely disseminated:

The Empire of China is an old, crazy, first-rate Man of War, which a fortunate succession of and vigilant officers have contrived to keep afloat for these hundred and fifty years past, and to overawe their neighbours merely by her bulk and appearance. But whenever an insufficient man happens to have the command on deck, adieu to the discipline and safety of the ship. She may, perhaps, not sink outright; she may drift some time as a wreck, and will then be dashed to pieces on the shore; but she can never be rebuilt on the old bottom.^[18]

Titsingh Embassy[link]

A Dutch embassy arrived to the Qianlong court in 1795, and would turn out to be the last occasion in which any European appeared before the Chinese Court within the context of traditional Chinese imperial foreign relations.^[19]

Representing Dutch and Dutch East India Company interests, Isaac Titsingh traveled to Pekin in 1794–95 for celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.^[20] The Titsingh delegation also included the Dutch-American Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest,^[21] whose detailed description of this embassy to the Chinese court was soon after published in the U.S. and Europe. Titsingh's French translator, Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes published his own account of the Titsingh mission in 1808. Voyage a Pékin, Manille et l'Ile de France provided an alternate perspective and a useful counterpoint to other reports which were then circulating. Titsingh himself died before he could publish his version of events.

In contrast to Macartney, Isaac Titsingh, the Dutch and VOC emissary in 1795 did not refuse to kowtow. In the year following Mccartney's rebuff, Titsingh and his colleagues were much feted by the Chinese because of what was construed as seemly compliance with conventional court etiquette.^[22]

Abdication[link]

In October 1795, Qianlong officially announced that in the spring of the following year he would voluntarily abdicate his throne and pass the crown to his son. It was said that Qianlong had made a promise during the year of his ascension not to rule longer than his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who had reigned for 61 years.

Qianlong anticipated moving out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City. The Hall had been conventionally dedicated for the exclusive use of the reigning sovereign, and in 1771 the emperor ordered the beginning of construction on what was ostensibly intended as his retirement residence in another part of the Forbidden City: a lavish, two-acre walled retreat called the Ningshou gong,^[10] or "Palace of Tranquil Longevity", today more commonly known as the Qianlong Garden.^[23] The complex, completed in 1776, is currently undergoing a ten-year restoration led by the Palace Museum in Beijing and the World Monuments Fund (WMF). The first of the restored apartments, Qianlong's Juanqinzhai, or "Studio of Exhaustion From Diligent Service," began an exhibition tour of the United States in 2010.^[23]

Qianlong resigned the throne at the age of 85, in the 60th year of his reign, to his son, the Jiaqing emperor in 1795. For the next four years, he held the title "Retired Emperor (太上皇)," though he continued to hold on to power and the Jiaqing Emperor ruled only in name. He never moved into his retirement suites in the Qianlong Garden.^[1] He died in 1799.^[15][24]

Legends[link]

There is a legend, popularized in fiction, that Qianlong was the son of Chen Yuanlong of Haining. Emperor Kangxi chose the heir to his throne based not just on his son's capability to govern the Empire, but also whether his grandson was of no lesser calibre, to ensure the Manchus' everlasting reign over the country. Yongzheng's own son was a weakling and he surreptitiously arranged for his daughter to be swapped for Chen Yuanlong's son, who became the apple of Kangxi's eye. Thus, Yongzheng got to succeed the throne, and his "son", Hongli, subsequently became Emperor Qianlong. Later, Qianlong went to the southern part of the country four times, he stayed in Chen's house in Haining, leaving behind his calligraphy and also frequently issued imperial decrees making and maintaining Haining as a tax-free state.

However there are major problems with this story being: 1) His eldest surviving son Hongshi was only 7 when Hongli was born far too early to make the drastic choice of replacing a child of royal birth with an outsider (and risking disgrace if not death) 2) Yongzheng had three other princes that survived to adulthood who had the potential of ascending the throne. Indeed given the fact that Hongshi was forced to commit suicide, the story would have been far more logical if he was the adopted child of Yongzheng.

Stories about Qianlong's 6 visits to the Jiangnan area disguised as a commoner have been a popular topic for many generations. In total, he has visited Jiang Nan eight times, as opposed to the Kangxi emperor's 6 inspections.

Family[link]

• Father: Yongzheng Emperor
• Mother: Empress Xiaoshengxian

Spouses[link]

• Empresses:
  • Empress Xiaoxianchun
  • Ulanara, the Step Empress
  • Empress Xiaoyichun

• Imperial Noble Consorts:
  • Imperial Noble Consort Huixian
  • Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui
  • Imperial Noble Consort Qinggong
  • Imperial Noble Consort Zhemin (哲憫皇貴妃), from the Fuca (富察) clan.
  • Imperial Noble Consort Shujia (淑嘉皇貴妃), from the Jingiya (金佳) clan.

• Noble Consorts:
  • Noble Consort Wan
  • Noble Consort Ying
  • Noble Consort Xin
  • Noble Consort Yu (愉貴妃), from the Keliyete (珂里葉特) clan.
  • Noble Consort Xun

• Consorts:
  • Consort Jin (晉妃), from the Fuca (富察) clan.
  • Consort Rong
  • Consort Shu
  • Consort Dun

• Imperial Concubines:
  • Imperial Concubine Yi (儀嬪), from the Huang (黃) clan.
  • Imperial Concubine Xun (恂嬪), from the Huoshuote (霍碩特) clan.
  • Imperial Concubine Gong (恭嬪), from the Lin (林) clan.
  • Imperial Concubine Yi (怡嬪), from the Bo (柏) clan.
  • Imperial Concubine Shen (慎嬪), from the Bai'ergesi (拜爾噶斯) clan.
  • Imperial Concubine Cheng (誠嬪), from the Niuhuru clan.

• Noble Ladies:
  • Noble Lady Shun
  • Lady Silin-Gioro (西林覺羅氏)
  • Lady Bo (柏氏)
  • Noble Lady Rui (瑞貴人), from the Suochuoluo (索綽絡) clan.
  • Noble Lady Duo (多貴人), from the Borjigit clan.
  • Noble Lady Wu (武貴人)
  • Noble Lady Jin (金貴人)
  • Noble Lady Xin (新貴人)
  • Noble Lady Fu (福貴人)

• First Class Female Attendants:
  • First Class Female Attendant Bai (白常在)
  • First Class Female Attendant Kui (揆常在)
  • First Class Female Attendant Ning (寧常在)
  • First Class Female Attendant Ping (平常在)
  • First Class Female Attendant Na (那常在)

^[25]

Sons[link]

Daughters[link]

The personal names of the Qianlong Emperor's daughters are not known.

The Qianlong Emperor adopted a niece, Heshuo Princess Hewan (和碩和婉公主; 24 July 1734 – 2 May 1760). She was the daughter of the Qianlong Emperor's younger half-brother Hongzhou and Hongzhou's primary spouse Lady Ujaku (烏札庫氏).

Ancestry[link]

See also[link]

• Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
• Giuseppe Castiglione
• Manwen Laodang
• Canton System
• Xi Yang Lou
• Long Corridor
• Putuo Zongcheng Temple
• Qianlong Dynasty

Notes[link]

^1 The Qianlong era name, however, started only on 12 February 1736, the first day of that lunar year. 8 February 1796 was the last day of the lunar year known in Chinese as the 60th year of Qianlong.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Qianlong Emperor

Qu Yuan (屈原)
Portrait of Qu Yuan by Chen Hongshou (1598-1652)
Born	339 BCE State of Chu, in what is now Hubei, China
Died	278 BCE The Miluo River
Occupation	Poet, government minister

Qu Yuan (Chinese: 屈原; pinyin: Qū Yuán; Wade–Giles: Ch'ü Yüan) (339 BCE – 278 BCE)^[1] was a Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. He is famous for his contributions to the poetry collection known as the Chu-ci (also known as Songs of the South or Songs of Chu). The Chuci together with the Shi Jing are the two great collections of ancient Chinese verse.

Historical details about Qu Yuan's life are few, and his authorship of many Chu-ci poems have been questioned at length.^[2] However, he is widely accepted to have written Li Sao, the most well-known of the Chu-ci poems, and possibly several others in the collection, as well. The first known reference to Qu Yuan appears in a poem written in 174 BCE by Jia Yi, an official from Luoyang who was slandered by jealous officials and banished to Changsha by Emperor Wen of Han. While traveling, he wrote a poem describing the similar fate of a previous "Qu Yuan."^[3] Eighty years later, the first known biography of Qu Yuan's life appeared in Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, though it contains a number of contradictory details.^[4]

Traditional biography[link]

Sima Qian's biography of Qu Yuan, though circumstantial and probably influenced greatly by Sima's own identification with Qu,^[5] is the traditional source of information on his life. Sima wrote that Qu was descended from a branch of the Chu royal clan and served as an official under King Huai of Chu (Chinese: 楚懷王, reigned 328-288 BCE). Qu was said to have advocated a policy of alliance with the other kingdoms of the period against the hegemonic Qin state, which threatened to dominate them all. However, the king fell under the influence of other corrupt, jealous ministers who slandered Qu Yuan and banished his most loyal counselors. It is said that Qu Yuan returned first to his family's home town. In his exile, he spent much of this time collecting legends and rearranging folk odes while traveling the countryside, producing some of the greatest poetry in Chinese literature and expressing fervent love for his state and his deepest concerns for its future.

According to legend, his anxiety brought him to an increasingly troubled state of health; during his depression, he would often take walks near a certain well, during which he would look upon his reflection in the water and his own person, thin and gaunt. According to legend, this well became known as the "Face Reflection Well." Today on a hillside in Xiangluping in in what is today Hubei province's Zigui County, there is a well which is considered to be the original well from the time of Qu Yuan.

In 278 BCE, learning of the capture of his country's capital, Ying, by General Bai Qi of the state of Qin, Qu Yuan is said to have written the lengthy poem of lamentation called "Lament for Ying" and later to have waded into the Miluo river in today's Hunan Province holding a great rock in order to commit ritual suicide as a form of protest against the corruption of the era.^[6]

Influence[link]

Qu Yuan is regarded as the first author of verse in China to have his name associated to his work, since prior to that time, poetic works were not attributed to any specific authors. He is considered to have initiated the so-called sao style of verse, which is named after his work Li Sao, in which he abandoned the classic four-character verses used in poems of Shi Jing and adopted verses with varying lengths. This resulted in poems with more rhythm and latitude in expression. Qu Yuan is also regarded as one of the most prominent figures of Romanticism in Chinese classical literature, and his masterpieces influenced some of the greatest Romanticist poets in Tang Dynasty such as Li Bai. During the Han Dynasty, Qu Yuan became established as a heroic example of how a scholar and official who was denied public recognition suitable to their worth should behave.^[7]

[edit] Chuci

Chu State Lacquer Coffin

Chu was located in what is now the Yangzi River area of central China. At this time, Chu represented the southern fringe of the Chinese cultural area, having for a time been part of both the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty empires; however, the Chu culture also retained certain characteristics of local traditions such as shamanism, the influence of which can be seen in the Chuci.^[8]

The Chuci was compiled and annotated by Wang Yi (died 158 CE), which is the source of transmission of these poems and any reliable information about them to subsequent times; thus, the role which Qu Yuan had in the authoring, editing, or retouching of these works remains unclear.^[9] The Chuci poems are important as being direct precursors of the fu style of Han Dynasty literature.^[10] The Chuci, as a preservation of early literature, has provided invaluable data for linguistic research into the history of the Chinese language, from Chen Di on.

Patriotism[link]

In the People's Republic of China, Qu Yuan came to be regarded as a prime example of patriotism.^[11] His social idealism and unbending patriotism have served as the model for Chinese intellectuals to this day, particularly following the establishment of new China in 1949. For example, in the 1950s China issued a postage stamp bearing the "likeness" of Qu Yuan.

Sexuality[link]

In 1944, the scholar Sun Cizhou (孫次周) published a work which stated that Qu Yuan was a lover of his king.^{[citation needed]} Sun cited the poetry of Qu Yuan to prove his claim. In Qu Yuan's most important work Li Sao (The Sorrow of Parting), it contains description of a beautiful man (美人 Pinyin: měirén, or beautiful person). A word he used to describe his king was used at that time by women to characterize their lovers. However, this idea is disputed, since the word 美人 meiren is a widely used metaphor in Chinese classical poetry.

Folklore underlying the Duanwu Festival[link]

The enduring popularity of Qu Yuan can be seen in this depiction of a him in a dragon boat, on one of the central streets of Singapore. A display for the Dragon Boat Festival (also known as the Duanwu of Double Fifth festival).

Popular legend has it that villagers carried their dumplings and boats to the middle of the river and desperately tried to save Qu Yuan after he immersed himself in the Miluo River, but were too late to do so. However, in order to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body, they beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles, and they also threw rice into the water both as a food offering to Qu Yuan's spirit and also to distract the fish away from his body. However, late one night, the spirit of Qu Yuan appeared before his friends and told them that he died because he had taken himself under the river. Then, he asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon.

Zongzi tied with leaves

These packages became a traditional food known as zòngzi, although the lumps of rice are now wrapped in reed leaves instead of silk. The act of racing to search for his body in boats gradually became the cultural tradition of dragon boat racing, which is held on the anniversary of his death every year. Today, people still eat zòngzi and participate in dragon boat races to commemorate Qu Yuan's sacrifice on Duanwu, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar. The countries around China, such as Vietnam and Korea, also celebrate this festival as part of the process of cultural sharing with China.

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• Chen Di
• Chinese literature#Classical poetry
• Chu (state)
• Classical Chinese poetry
• Dongting Lake
• Dragon boat
• Guodian Chu Slips
• Guqin
• Hubei
• Miluo River
• Records of the Grand Historian
• Seven Warring States
• Song Yu
• Xiang River
• Xiaoxiang
• Ying (Chu)
• Zigui County

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Davis, A. R. (Albert Richard), Editor and Introduction,(1970), The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse. (Baltimore: Penguin Books).
• Hinton, David (2008). Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology. New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-10536-7 / ISBN 978-0-374-10536-5.
• Judge, Joan (1996). Print and politics: 'Shibao' and the culture of reform in late Qing China. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2741-4.
• Yip, Wai-lim (1997). Chinese Poetry: An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres . (Durham and London: Duke University Press). ISBN 0-8223-1946-2

Further reading[link]

• Hawkes, David (1959). Ch'u tz'u: The Songs of the South, an Ancient Chinese Anthology. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 
• Hawkes, David (1974). "The Quest of the Goddess". Studies in Chinese Literary Genres. Berkeley: University of California Press. 
• Schneider, Laurence A. (1980). A Madman of Ch'u: The Chinese Myth of Loyalty and Dissent. Berkeley: University of California Press. 
• Ssuma Ch'ien (1993). Records of the grand historian (Rev. ed.). New York: Columbia Univ. Press. ISBN 0-231-08164-2. 
• Waley, Arthur (1973). The nine songs; a study of shamanism in ancient China. San Francisco: City Lights Books. ISBN 0-87286-075-2. 
• Watson, Burton (1962). Early Chinese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. 

External links[link]

• "Qu Yuan (Chu Yuan), the great poet"
• "This article has photos of Qu Yuan's hometown before it was submerged by the dams project"
• "The Dragon Boat Festival" (article reproduced from Volume 1, number 2 of the newsletter of Families with Children from China of the San Francisco Bay Area)

David Hinton is an American poet, and translator.

Life[link]

He studied Chinese at Cornell University, and in Taiwan.^[1] He lives in East Calais, Vermont.^[2]

Awards[link]

• 1997 Academy of American Poets Harold Morton Landon Translation Award
• fellowship from the Witter Bynner Foundation
• fellowship the Ingram Merrill Foundation
• fellowship National Endowment for the Arts
• fellowship National Endowment for the Humanities.
• 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2007 PEN Award for translation^[3]

Works[link]

Translations[link]

• David Hinton (April 19, 2009). "Poet's Choice 'Drinking Wine' by T'ao Ch'ien". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/17/AR2009041701369.html. 
• "Overnight at Stone-gate Cliffs". Smith College. http://www.smith.edu/poetrycenter/poets/overnight.html. 

• Mountain home: the wilderness poetry of ancient China. New Directions Publishing. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8112-1624-1. http://books.google.com/?id=R7m_LPWnSEkC&dq=David+Hinton&printsec=frontcover. 
• The Mountain Poems of Hsieh Ling-yun. New Directions. 2001. ISBN 978-0-8112-1489-6. http://books.google.com/?id=yd8NurNS-zkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Hinton. 
• Laozi, Lao zi, Lao-tzu (2000). Tao Te Ching. Counterpoint. ISBN 978-1-58243-047-8. 
• The selected poems of Po Chü-I. New Directions Publishing. 1999. ISBN 978-0-8112-1412-4. http://books.google.com/?id=cMY-UIJyCvgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Hinton. 
• Mencius. Basic Books. 1999. ISBN 978-1-58243-020-1. http://books.google.com/?id=yPbWAiQKQAQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Hinton. 
• The Analects of Confucius. Counterpoint. 1998. ISBN 978-1-58243-038-6. 
• Chuang Tzu: Inner Chapters. Publishers Group West. 1997. ISBN 978-1-887178-34-1. 
• The Selected Poems of Lí Po. New Directions. 1996. ISBN 978-0-8112-1323-3. http://books.google.com/?id=HSVgjUueodcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Hinton. 
• Bei Dao (1996). Landscape Over Zero. New Directions. ISBN 978-0-8112-1334-9. 
• The Late Poems of Meng Chiao. Princeton University Press. 1996. ISBN 978-0-691-01236-0. http://books.google.com/?id=4jb31MbYaGwC&dq=David+Hinton&printsec=frontcover. 
• Forms of Distance by Bei Dao (1994)
• The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien. Copper Canyon Press. 1993. ISBN 978-1-55659-056-6. 
• The Selected Poems of Tu Fu. New Directions Publishing. 1989. ISBN 978-0-8112-1100-0. http://books.google.com/?id=AjrCB3w0YCwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=David+Hinton. 

Editor[link]

• Classical Chinese Poetry. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. October 2008. ISBN 978-0-374-10536-5. 

Reviews[link]

We are all of us indebted to David Hinton for his eloquent and, more importantly, philosophical translations of Chinese poetry. I point this out because while there have been many translations of Chinese poetry over the last century, few have acknowledged and brought to life the philosophical context of the poetry. David Hinton and Bill Porter are important in this respect. This is not to say, however, that there is not room for quibbling....^[4]

With David Hinton as our guide, Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology comes across as something akin to a magical artifact, full of potential energies and untapped motes of poetic inspiration. Anyone, especially poets looking outside the western canon for transformative verse and fresh inspiration, should include this book in their library.^[5]