French Literature Reviews - 2026
Anthology of Chinese Poetry
Poetry and Poetics
Bibliographic reference: Anthologie de la poésie chinoise, Gallimard, "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade" series, 2015. EAN13: 9782070143764.
Anthology of Chinese Poetry
Translated from Chinese by Chantal Chen-Andro, Stéphane Feuillas, Florence Hu-Sterk, Rainier Lanselle, Sandrine Marchand, François Martin, Rémi Mathieu, and Martine Vallette-Hémery. Edited under the direction of Rémi Mathieu with the collaboration of Chantal Chen-Andro, Stéphane Feuillas, Florence Hu-Sterk, Rainier Lanselle, Sandrine Marchand, François Martin, and Martine Vallette-Hémery
Paris: Gallimard, coll. "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade", 2015.
1600 p.
EAN 9782070143764
65.00 EUR (until June 30, 2015)
Publisher's overview:
A lotus flower emerging from pure water, / Natural, devoid of any decoration, such is what poetry should be according to Li Bai. He lived in the 8th century and remains the most prominent figure of the Tang era, considered the golden age of Chinese poetry. But the Chinese have been poets for three thousand years, and their poetry has always been in pursuit of harmony. Expressing the world as it is: Human affairs, shifting clouds, / Why? (Gao Qi, 14th c.). Dreaming of what it could be: Peach blossoms drift away on the water; / There is another world, not that of humans (Li Bai). Aspiring to union with nature: I fear aging faster if the flowers fade (Du Fu, 8th c.). Denouncing what destroys human beings from within: Tears never drying, / Stains never washed away, / Passion never consumed, / Shame never purged, / This uncertain, evanescent life, / Where will it finally find its haven of peace? (Guo Moruo, 1892-1978.) Allowing oneself to be haunted by History: Wild vines, moved by some unknown love, embrace the bones bleached by war (Yuan Haowen, 13th c.). Capturing the fleeting moments of happy love for eternity: Forbidden is the sun to raise the blinds of your eyes, / Forbidden is the breeze to stroke your eyebrows, / No one must wake you, / Let us open the shadow of a pine tree to cover your sleep (Wen Yiduo, 1899-1946). And rivaling other arts, painting or calligraphy: The wind stirs the foam: a thousand petals of flowers; / Geese touch the sky: a row of characters (Bai Juyi, 8th-9th c.).
To reproduce three thousand years of poetry in half as many pages is unthinkable. Yet selecting the finest texts, jades among pebbles, has been a practice in China as old as poetry itself; the first anthology, the Shijing, is said to have been compiled by Confucius in the 5th century BCE. At a time when China is noted less for the brilliance of its literature than for its economic achievements, the Pléiade offers, through some 1850 poems by more than 400 authors, a journey across the poetic ocean it has produced.
Representative choices had to be made: this was the goal, without blindly following Chinese anthologies. For it was also essential to choose texts that would speak to (and could be recited by) the French-speaking reader. The music of words, rhythms, colors, and images must resonate in our language so that something of the author's imagination is conveyed to us. The translators who embarked on this adventure did so with their own tastes, talent, love for the texts, and each one's vision of China and its literature. In the landscape they have collectively redrawn, everyone will forge their own path.
Selection of poems by period: Antiquity (the Zhou dynasty, the two Han dynasties, ~11th c.–~2nd c. BCE), the Six Dynasties and the Sui (from the end of the Han to the end of the Sui, 196–618), the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Five Dynasties (907–960) and the Song (960–1279), the Yuan dynasty (Mongols, 1279–1368), the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the Qing dynasty (Manchus, 1644–1911), and the modern and contemporary eras.
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An article on this work can be read on nonfiction.fr:
The Anthologie de la poésie chinoise, published in Gallimard's Bibliothèque de la Pléiade series under the direction of Rémi Mathieu with a team of translators, presents a broad selection of poetry spanning three thousand years. The volume encompasses works from Antiquity and the Zhou dynasty through the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties up to the modern and contemporary eras, featuring roughly 1850 poems by more than 400 authors.
Anthologizing traditional verse has a long history in China, tracing back to early compilations such as the Shijing. This extensive survey reflects diverse historical periods, aesthetic ideals, and thematic concerns, ranging from union with nature and human affairs to historical reflections and connections with painting and calligraphy. Readers interested in comprehensive surveys of world literature and classical verse traditions may find this reference relevant to their literary explorations.