Selected Poems of Ruan Ji

Author: Ruan Ji
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Ruan Ji (210-263), styled Sizong, was a poet during the Wei-Jin period and one of the famous "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove." Living in turbulent times, despite having "ambitions to save the world," he had to feign madness to avoid worldly troubles, seeking solace in poetry, philosophy, music, and indulgence in drink. The eighty-two "Poems on Contemplation" selected in this book hold an important place in the history of Chinese poetry. The poet expresses his profound "laments on life's uncertainties" in elegant and ethereal prose, using various symbolic techniques such as historical allusions, mythical tales, imagery of flying birds, and aesthetic distance to transform the tangible into the intangible. In the poet's hands, the hardships and trials of life become ethereal and even carefree, setting a model for later poets to express their emotions and ideals, earning the reputation of "masterpieces of an era." This translation is a collaborative effort between Wu Fusheng, a U.S.-born non-native speaker, and the British poet Green Lu Mountain, presenting a bilingual Chinese-English translation of Ruan Ji's "Poems on Contemplation."