Ways with Words

"Ways with Words" presents interpretive essays by scholars from different disciplines on seven core, premodern classical Chinese texts. The remarkable diversity of these works - drawn from literature, philosophy, religion, and art history - challenges the presumption of a monolithic Chinese tradition that has been promoted by scholars and popular culture alike, both in China and the West.The texts themselves include a poem from the Classic of Poetry compiled in the sixth century b.c.e.; passages from Mencius and Zhuangzi; the "Heart Sutra"; a poem by Du Fu and the "Biography of Yingying" by Yuan Zhen, both written during the Tang dynasty; and "Notes on the Method for the Brush", a tenth-century text attributed to Jing Hao. Both the original Chinese versions and the translations are provided for each primary text. There are at least two essays - when possible from scholars in different fields - on each work. The volume as a whole demonstrates the various ways in which the modern Western reader can confront the impressive variety of texts from the classical Chinese tradition.