The Poetry of Yuan Haowen/ John Timothy Wixted

Yuan Haowen 元好問 (1190–1257) is celebrated as one of the preeminent Chinese poets of the last eight centuries. His work is particularly renowned for its poignant reflections on the devastation and turmoil that marked the Jin dynasty's decline and the subsequent Mongol conquest of North China. Through Yuan's verses, readers can deeply sense his profound sorrow over the dynasty's demise and his earnest desire to safeguard the historical and cultural legacy of his era. His poems are distinguished by their erudition, inventive use of language, and rich allusive depth. They also convey a consistent sense of irony, often complemented by moments of subtle, self-deprecating wit. John Timothy Wixted’s curation of 150 of Yuan Haowen’s poems offers a distilled essence of the scholarship available on the poet across Chinese, Japanese, and Western literary studies. The selected poems are presented with clear introductions, insightful interpretations, and detailed explications, featuring both romanization and translation alongside the original text. Full Title: The Poetry of Yuan Haowen: Introduced, Interpreted, Explicated Author: John Timothy Wixted ISBN: 9789882373273 Binding: Hardcover Language: English Page: 540 Dimensions: 229 x 152 mm **About the Author** **John Timothy Wixted** (B.A. Toronto, M.A. Stanford, D.Phil . Oxford) is an Emeritus Professor of Chinese and Japanese Languages and Literatures at Arizona State University. His published works include the translation of Yoshikawa Kōjirō’s *Five Hundred Years of Chinese Poetry, 1150–1650: The Chin, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties*, and he is the author of four books: *Poems on Poetry: Literary Criticism by Yuan Haowen (1190–1257)*, *The Song-Poetry of Wei Chuang (836– 910 A.D.)*, *Japanese Scholars of China: A Bibliographical Handbook*, and *A Handbook to Classical Japanese*. He has also contributed numerous articles on Sino-Japanese poetry (kanshi), with a particular focus on Mori Ōgai (1862–1922). Having retired in Michigan, he has recently relocated to Argentina. ------------------------------------------------------------- Some critics have rightly recognized Yuan Haowen as one of China’s most significant poets. However, a comprehensive study of his life and extensive poetic output has been notably absent in English scholarship until now. John Timothy Wixted’s *The Poetry of Yuan Haowen: Introduced, Interpreted, Explicated* offers translations of 150 of Yuan’s most representative poems. The English renditions are elegantly crafted, and the lucid commentary, which synthesizes available scholarship in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages, promises to engage both China specialists and general readers alike. Each poem includes Pinyin romanization, providing readers of all Chinese language proficiencies direct access to the original text. This volume marks a notable contribution to the expanding body of English scholarship on traditional Chinese poetry. —**James M. Hargett**, Professor Emeritus, University at Albany, SUNY