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Poetic Remarks in the Human World
Wang Guowei's Poetic Remarks in the Human World is the most famous work of modern Chinese criticism, built around the idea of the 'realm' in poetry. In short, brilliant entries, Wang judges the poets of the Five Dynasties and Song and sets out his ideas of the poet's vision, the 'realm with self' and the 'realm without self'. This is a complete new English translation, with names in modern pinyin and the text rendered as plain, readable English prose. It is a book to dip into: short entries, sharp judgements and many quoted lines, a conversation with the best readers of Chinese poetry. Traditional Chinese criticism was written by poets for poets, and it is full of anecdotes, quotations and memorable verdicts that bring the poems and poets to life.
