I have just received this treasure book for many moments of reading and contemplating
Red Pine (translator) :: Bill Porter (author)
14 November 2020
Unfortunately it is easy to overlook Bill’s amazing translating work in poetry. And speaking of that is this most beautiful book published by his local publisher, Copper Canyon Press. This volume focuses on poet Liu Tsun-yuan who lived in the 700 -800’s in China. What is remarkable is that so much information survived for Bill to write about and use as inspiration. Bill and the Copper Canyon design team put together one of the most incredible volumes of Chinese poetry we have ever seen, with illustrations, notes and a number of Bill’s own photos. This book, takes you back to this ancient world like a time machine. And it is a wonderful lesson in the beauty and wonder of Bill’s poetry translations. Bill’s painstaking work here is certainly reason enough to have this work. The poetry it presents is one of the great pillars of Chinese classic civilization and wisdom. In some ways, this is the Chinese version of a great artist who like Basho, brings us the taste and feeling of another age. And what an age it was, swirling with joy, wonder and profound ideas that would last to our own times.