(Peking University) Translated and annotated by Pr.Xu Yuanchong 北京大学教授许渊冲心译注 300 Tang Poems classified by Theme 唐诗三百首 I'll set my cloud-like sail to cross the sea which raves. Ate wi comne to nae the wmd and cleave tne waves, Chinese-English 直挂云帆济沧海 长风破浪会有时 外翻译出版公司 出版集团
Chinese civilization is the only civilization in the world that has been developing continuously for 5,000 years and is as dynamic as it has ever been.The books in this series have been carefully selected from a vast number of Chinese classics that were enormously influ- ential throughout history,and have received considerable attention from Western readers.Since these books are fundamental to the understanding of traditional Chinese culture,both the Chinese texts and the corre- sponding English translations are provided so that the highest current standards of academic research can be maintained.This allows both Chinese and foreign people to read original ancient Chinese books and capture the essence of Chinese civili- zation. 润 的 PDG
唐诗300首 Preface The 300 Tang pocms selected in this anthology are classified into 10 categories ac- cording to themes,namely: Man and Nature Nature Poems Farewell Poems Homeland Poems Love Poems Historical Poems Frontier Poems Political and Satirical Poems Personality and Character Reflections and Recollections The Classification is not strict.that is to say.one pocm may fall into different cate. gories.The first category includes 41 poems which describe natural scenery and commu- nion of man with nature,for example,Li Bai's Waterfall in Mount Lu Viewed from Afar. The second category includes 39 poems which describe the force and beauty of nature, such as wind.rain,birds,trees.flowers,for example,He Zhizhang's Willow.The third cat- egory relates the poets'love of their friends and their sorrows of parting,for instance, Wang Bo's Furewell to Prefect Du.The fourth category shows the poets'love of their family and homeland,for instance,Meng Jiao's Song of a Parting Son.The fifth category is important for it includes 30)love poems which are not so passionate as English love songs.for example.Li Shangyin's To One Unnmned.The sixth category includes 30 his- torical poems which are not so long as Western cpics,for example,Bai Juyi's Everlasting 5晚5
·唐诗300首 Regret.The seventh consists of 20 frontier or war poems,for war usually broke out on the frontier,for instance,Wang Changling's On the Frontier.The eighth consists of 20 political and satirical poems,such as Du Fu's Song of the Conscript.The ninth deals with personality and character,such as Wang Zhihuan's On the Stork Tower.The last category deals with the poets'reflections and recollections on life,such as Li Bai's Hard is the Way of the World. As Robert Payne says in The White Poeny,"We can understand a people best through their poctry,and the Chinese who have written poetry since the beginning of time always regarded poetry as the finest flower of their culture."And Lytton Strachey says of Giles's translation of Chinese poetry,"the poetry in it is the best that this generation has know,"it "holds a unique place in the literature of the world.Its pages,for all their strange antiquity, are fresh to us,their humanity keeps them immortal."What is their humanity?I think it may refer to the Tang poets'love of nature as shown in the first and second categories of this book,their love of the country and people in the third and fourth categories,love of beauty in the fifth,of heroes in the sixth,of peace in the seventh,of freedom in the eighth, of honor in the ninth and of life in the last.These are what keeps Tang poetry immortal.So the publication of this anthology will help the world to achieve a better understanding of China.As Confucius says,it is good to understand,better to enjoy and best to delight.If the understanding will bring enjoyment and delight,then "what more felicity,as says Spencer,can fall to creature
唐诗300首 About Tang Poems It is said that the 21st century will be an age of globalization.The new generation worthy of the new age should be bred not only in its national culture but also in the global culture.Therefore,each nation should try to globalize its culture,in other words,to make its culture known to the world and become a part of the global culture so as to make it more brilliant. If the 20th century may be said to be an American age,then the 19th was a British age and the 18th a French one.If we go further back,we may say that the 7th-13th centuries were Chinese ages,for during the Tang and the Song dynasties (618-1279), China was the most advanced country in the world,so far as political system.economic development and artistic and literary culture are concemed. How did the Tang and the Song attain the highest development in the world during six hundred years?The answer may be summed up in two words,that is,the reign of "rite and music".According to professor Y.L.Feng,music imitates the harmony of nature and rite imitates the order of the universe.Rite is instituted to secure the mean in man's desire,and music,including poetry,to secure the mean in man's sentiment.Music is benevolence concretized and rite is justice externalized.If a state is governed with rite and music,its people will be just and benevolent,and the world will be peaceful and happy.That is one of O the reasons why China has been standing among the great nations for thousands of years. 0 Emperor Xuan Zong (685-762)who reigned at the zenith of the Tang Dynasty enjoyed 三 the highest economic and cultural prosperity when his government promoted the performance of rite and music.This may be seen frh the first two verses he wrote when he offered sacrifice to Confucius in his temple: How much have you done,O,my sage