Zong-qi Cai is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and chair professor of Chinese literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. His books on Chinese poetry include How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology (2007) and How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012), both from Columbia University Press, as well as The Matrix of Lyric Transformation: Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry (1996).

Devoted exclusively to the rich, fantastical, labyrinthine matrix of poetry-making in ancient China. . . . [How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context] is both a gem of fresh scholarship and a compendium of luminous insights. . . . This book – in fact, the entire series – will be a game changer.

• Thematic ContentsPreface to the How to Read Chinese Literature SeriesPreface to the VolumeChronology of Historical EventsSymbols and AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Cultural Role of Chinese Poetry, by Zong-qi CaiPart I: Pre-Han Times1. Poetry and Diplomacy in The Zuo Commentary(Zuozhuan), by Wai-yee Li2. Poetry and Authorship: The Songs of Chu (Chuci), by Stephen OwenPart II: The Han Dynasty3. Empire in Text: Sima Xiangru’s “Sir Vacuous/Imperial Park Rhapsody”(“Zixu/Shanglin fu”), by Yu-yu Cheng and Gregory Patterson4. Poetry and Ideology: The Canonization of the Book of Poetry (Shijing) During the Han, by Zong-qi Cai5. Love Beyond the Grave: A Tragic Tale of Love and Marriage in Han China, by Olga LomováPart III: The Six Dynasties6. Heroes from Chaotic Times: The Three Caos, by Xinda Lian7. The Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, by Nanxiu Qian8. The Poetry of Reclusion: Tao Qian, by Alan Berkowitz9. The Struggling Buddhist Mind: Shen Yue, by Meow Hui GohPart IV: The Tang Dynasty10. Knight-Errantry: Tang Frontier Poems, by Tsung-Cheng Lin11. Tang Civil Service Examinations, by Manling Luo12. Tang Women at the Public/Private Divide, by Maija Bell Samei13. Poetry and Buddhist Enlightenment: Wang Wei and Han Shan, by Chen Yinchi and Jing Chen14. Drinking Alone Beneath the Moon: Li Bai and the Poetics of Wine, by Paula Varsano15. Du Fu: The Poet as Historian, by Jack W. Chen16. Poetry and Literati Friendship: Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, by Ao Wang17. Li He: Poetry as Obsession, by Robert AshmoreAcknowledgmentsContributorsGlossary-Index

Zong-qi Cai is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and chair professor of Chinese literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. His books on Chinese poetry include How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology (2007) and How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012), both from Columbia University Press, as well as The Matrix of Lyric Transformation: Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry (1996).

Devoted exclusively to the rich, fantastical, labyrinthine matrix of poetry-making in ancient China. . . . [How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context] is both a gem of fresh scholarship and a compendium of luminous insights. . . . This book – in fact, the entire series – will be a game changer.

• Thematic ContentsPreface to the How to Read Chinese Literature SeriesPreface to the VolumeChronology of Historical EventsSymbols and AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Cultural Role of Chinese Poetry, by Zong-qi CaiPart I: Pre-Han Times1. Poetry and Diplomacy in The Zuo Commentary(Zuozhuan), by Wai-yee Li2. Poetry and Authorship: The Songs of Chu (Chuci), by Stephen OwenPart II: The Han Dynasty3. Empire in Text: Sima Xiangru’s “Sir Vacuous/Imperial Park Rhapsody”(“Zixu/Shanglin fu”), by Yu-yu Cheng and Gregory Patterson4. Poetry and Ideology: The Canonization of the Book of Poetry (Shijing) During the Han, by Zong-qi Cai5. Love Beyond the Grave: A Tragic Tale of Love and Marriage in Han China, by Olga LomováPart III: The Six Dynasties6. Heroes from Chaotic Times: The Three Caos, by Xinda Lian7. The Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, by Nanxiu Qian8. The Poetry of Reclusion: Tao Qian, by Alan Berkowitz9. The Struggling Buddhist Mind: Shen Yue, by Meow Hui GohPart IV: The Tang Dynasty10. Knight-Errantry: Tang Frontier Poems, by Tsung-Cheng Lin11. Tang Civil Service Examinations, by Manling Luo12. Tang Women at the Public/Private Divide, by Maija Bell Samei13. Poetry and Buddhist Enlightenment: Wang Wei and Han Shan, by Chen Yinchi and Jing Chen14. Drinking Alone Beneath the Moon: Li Bai and the Poetics of Wine, by Paula Varsano15. Du Fu: The Poet as Historian, by Jack W. Chen16. Poetry and Literati Friendship: Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, by Ao Wang17. Li He: Poetry as Obsession, by Robert AshmoreAcknowledgmentsContributorsGlossary-Index

Zong-qi Cai is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and chair professor of Chinese literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. His books on Chinese poetry include How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology (2007) and How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012), both from Columbia University Press, as well as The Matrix of Lyric Transformation: Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry (1996).

Devoted exclusively to the rich, fantastical, labyrinthine matrix of poetry-making in ancient China. . . . [How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context] is both a gem of fresh scholarship and a compendium of luminous insights. . . . This book – in fact, the entire series – will be a game changer.

• Thematic ContentsPreface to the How to Read Chinese Literature SeriesPreface to the VolumeChronology of Historical EventsSymbols and AbbreviationsIntroduction: The Cultural Role of Chinese Poetry, by Zong-qi CaiPart I: Pre-Han Times1. Poetry and Diplomacy in The Zuo Commentary(Zuozhuan), by Wai-yee Li2. Poetry and Authorship: The Songs of Chu (Chuci), by Stephen OwenPart II: The Han Dynasty3. Empire in Text: Sima Xiangru’s “Sir Vacuous/Imperial Park Rhapsody”(“Zixu/Shanglin fu”), by Yu-yu Cheng and Gregory Patterson4. Poetry and Ideology: The Canonization of the Book of Poetry (Shijing) During the Han, by Zong-qi Cai5. Love Beyond the Grave: A Tragic Tale of Love and Marriage in Han China, by Olga LomováPart III: The Six Dynasties6. Heroes from Chaotic Times: The Three Caos, by Xinda Lian7. The Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, by Nanxiu Qian8. The Poetry of Reclusion: Tao Qian, by Alan Berkowitz9. The Struggling Buddhist Mind: Shen Yue, by Meow Hui GohPart IV: The Tang Dynasty10. Knight-Errantry: Tang Frontier Poems, by Tsung-Cheng Lin11. Tang Civil Service Examinations, by Manling Luo12. Tang Women at the Public/Private Divide, by Maija Bell Samei13. Poetry and Buddhist Enlightenment: Wang Wei and Han Shan, by Chen Yinchi and Jing Chen14. Drinking Alone Beneath the Moon: Li Bai and the Poetics of Wine, by Paula Varsano15. Du Fu: The Poet as Historian, by Jack W. Chen16. Poetry and Literati Friendship: Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, by Ao Wang17. Li He: Poetry as Obsession, by Robert AshmoreAcknowledgmentsContributorsGlossary-Index