Bøger i Chinese Poems for Students of Chinese serien

This volume follows on from the first in the series, where a selection of classical Chinese poems well-known to all Chinese school children was presented in a form easy for overseas students of the Chinese language to assimilate. Here, we continue with a further selection of popular Chinese classics, chosen for the insight they provide on Chinese history and culture. Part 1 looks at history through the eyes of some of the poets of the Tang dynasty, who reference the heroes of ancient battles of the Three Kingdoms period, as well as expressing the dashed hopes and aspirations of those caught up in the current struggles against "barbarians" from the North. We even hear about the founder of the Qin dynasty, and his final battle giving way to the establishment of the Han. The importance of geography in these struggles is not forgotten, and we see how the Yellow River was the cradle of the Chinese civilization, and the Yangtse the barrier separating the three Kingdoms, as well as the major thoroughfare transporting Li Bai from exile to rehabilitation. Two other major strategic features are discussed - the Great Wall, defending the trade route, the Old Silk Road, and the Grand Canal, alleviating the threat of flood, and transporting supplies throughout the country, and playing a key rôle in its prosperity.In part 2, we look at the culture of ancient China, and although most of the poets quoted here lived in the Tang and Song eras, their works draw heavily on influences from the past. We see women in different guises - as workers cultivating silk worms, to their role as concubines - the delights and perils of that occupation - and ending with the sending away of a young girl to an arranged marriage. We look at the Imperial Examination system, a key factor in maintaining governance of the empire over two thousand years. Also examined is the expression of dissidence in the political system, of social waywardness and debauchery, and the moral character instilled in different ways with the three major religions or philosophies of China, Daoist, Confucian and Buddhist. Finally, a number of Chinese poems have made their way to the West in translation, and we go back and look at the sources for a couple of these poems.While an assortment of thirty-odd Tang dynasty poems is clearly just skimming the surface of the wealth of Chinese poetry in existence, the aim, by finding poems which link to aspects of Chinese culture, is to provide as varied a collection as possible, making the reading of these poems more accessible, and their study more rewarding.

SummaryThis is a book to help students of Chinese increase their familiarity with Chinese culture and strengthen their command of the language. The book presents, in a unique format, 28 short couplets (5 character or 7 character cut-shorts) comprising Chinese poems all very well known to Chinese nationals. Explanatory notes for each poem are provided in English, and translations are given at the end of the book. This is an ideal textbook for both students and teachers wanting to incorporate Chinese poetry into their study curriculum.BlurbThis is a book that every student of Chinese will want to buy. For the first time, Chinese poems are presented in an accessible form, with the characters, their pronunciation, and their English meaning all alongside each other, together with text in English providing insight on the poet, the cultural context and historical background for each one. English versions of all the poems are at the end of the book.Poems are an important part of Chinese culture, and the ones included here are some of the best known, studied by Chinese schoolchildren from an early age. For foreign students of Chinese, these poems present a unique opportunity to get to know the culture and to strengthen their command of the language at the same time. All of the poems here are classics, and their study provides an entry into Chinese literature far more readily than immersion in weighty novels. Each poem is short and easy to assimilate; memorising the poems, both to write and to declaim, helps to embed the characters in the mind, and to build up confidence in reading, writing and speaking the language.The poems are presented in such a way that the tools are available to understand each one, but the reader has the opportunity to come to their own conclusion as to the interpretation of the poem - in exactly the same way as an established scholar of Chinese might do. Reading a Chinese poem is a bit like solving a riddle, and indeed, the information and clues provided here are sufficient to allow even someone with no previous knowledge of Chinese to appreciate the beauty of these poems.